HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 8 January 2013, Official Report, column 238W, on the UK Border Agency, 
	(1)  if she will take steps to ensure that the monthly analysis of asylum claims by the UK Border Agency includes a breakdown of claims by gender; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what areas were highlighted as requiring improvement in the thematic review of asylum claims based on or featuring gender-related persecutions and gender issues completed by her Department in June 2011; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Harper: The agency does not routinely analyse the quality of asylum decisions by gender because sample sizes are not large enough to identify the contribution of gender to differences in quality in a statistically meaningful way. Under the new quality assurance process being developed for the asylum process, the agency will continue to collect data on quality and gender. The intention is to monitor how interviewers and decision makers handle gender-related issues on a six monthly basis and monitor trends in performance over the longer term. Areas where specific gender-related performance issues are identified will be addressed through, for example, further guidance, training or staff management.
	Among the issues identified in the agency's thematic review of asylum claims based on gender were that, in some cases, full consideration had not been given to whether women claimants were members of a particular social group under the terms of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and that, in some cases, there was a lack of investigation into instances of domestic violence committed by relatives other than a husband. In light of the issues raised the agency has developed dedicated training on managing asylum claims from women and this has been delivered to decision makers. The agency has also been working closely with corporate partners on a number of other actions aimed at improving the gender sensitivity of the asylum system.

Asylum

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers are supported by the National Asylum Support Service; and what the equivalent number was in (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011.

Mark Harper: The National Asylum Support Service was disbanded in 2006. Asylum support is now managed through regional asylum teams. The legislation in respect of eligibility for asylum support, and the categories of support available, has not changed.
	Support may be provided under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute until their asylum claim is determined. Section 95 support can be provided as both accommodation and subsistence, or accommodation or subsistence only.
	At the end of Q3 2012, the most recent published figure available, 19,366 asylum seekers were in receipt of Section 95 support.
	Corresponding figures for previous years are:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2009 Q3 29,071 
			 2010 Q3 22,985 
			 2011 Q3 20,639 
		
	
	Figures on Section 95 support are published on a quarterly basis. Latest figures are available in Table as.16.q of the release ‘Immigration Statistics, July to September 2012' which is available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q3-2012/

City of London Police

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) full-time equivalent police officers, (b) full-time police community support officers and (c) other full-time equivalent staff were working for the City of London police in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: The number of police officers, police community support officers and other police staff working for City of London police as at 31 March 2011 and 2012 are shown within the following table (full-time equivalent). Figures as at 31 March 2013 are obviously not yet available.
	
		
			 Number of police officers, police community support officers and police staff strength within City of London police as at 31 March 2011 and 2012(1,2) 
			 As at 31 March: Police Officers Police Community Support Officers Police Staff 
			 2011 878 44 337 
			 2012 831 38 331 
			 (1) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. (2) Figures for 2012-13 are not yet available.

Data Protection

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions each Minister in her Department carried classified documents on public transport in the last 12 months for which information is available.

James Brokenshire: This information is not held centrally.

Data Protection

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department currently remunerates (a) telephone companies, (b) internet service providers and (c) others annually for data storage; and what estimate she has made of such figures if the draft Communications Data Bill was passed.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 25 January 2013
	Payments reimbursing the costs to industry of communications data retention, and provision of dedicated staff to answer law enforcement inquiries, are normally met by the police and other operational agencies requesting the data.
	The total estimated payment to the communications industry for these purposes by the Home Office for FY 2012-13 is £15 million. 80% of this expenditure is through a pilot project established by the Home Office to ensure value for money and auditing of payments to industry. Under this pilot, a subset of providers are reimbursed directly by the Home Office, with the money then recharged to operational agencies.
	It is not possible to break this figure down as requested, as companies may offer multiple services (eg a broadband and a mobile service) but only receive a single payment.
	Information on the expected costs that would be incurred following future legislation will be included in the impact assessment published to accompany it.

Domestic Violence

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to meet its objectives on reducing domestic violence.

Jeremy Browne: The Government's Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls Action Plan sets out our steps to tackle all forms of violence against women. This includes ring-fencing funding of nearly £40 million over the spending review period towards specialist domestic and sexual violence services. We are also piloting the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme in the four police areas of Greater Manchester, Gwent, Nottinghamshire and Wiltshire, and are evaluating the Domestic Violence Protection Order pilot that concluded in June 2012.

Domestic Violence: Males

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what steps her Department is taking to tackle domestic violence against men;
	(2)  what steps her Department is taking to support voluntary sector organisations who work with men subjected to domestic violence.

Jeremy Browne: We recognise that men can be victims of domestic violence and need advice and support. In December 2011, the Home Office set up the Male Victims Fund to support frontline organisations working with male victims of sexual and domestic violence. Details of the organisations can be found at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime/violence-against-women-girls/domestic-violence/
	We also fund Respect to run the Men's Advice Line for male victims of domestic violence and Broken Rainbow to run a helpline for Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) victims of domestic violence.

Drugs: Misuse

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how much her Department has spent on advertising the risks associated with Class (a) A, (b) B and (c) C drugs via the FRANK drug information campaign in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how much her Department has spent on advertising the risks associated with Class (a) A, (b) B and (c) C drugs in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Browne: The following information summarises Home Office spend on advertising the risks associated with Class (a) A, (b) B and (c) C drugs via the FRANK drug information campaign in each of the last five years. This spend includes the cost of advertising to raise awareness of the FRANK service.
	
		
			  £ 
			 2011-12 855,526 
			 2010-11 16,058 
			 2009-10 1,180,809 
			 2008-09 1,650,302 
			 2007-08 1,667,965 
		
	
	The figures relate to the cost of TV, cinema, radio, print, posters and online media, and exclude VAT, production costs and agency fees.

Entry Clearances

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for family dependent visas to non-EU citizens were (a) received and (b) fully processed by her Department in (i) August and (ii) September 2012.

Mark Harper: holding answer 24 January 2013
	Information on the total number of entry clearance visa applications and entry clearance visas resolved (total decisions) is currently published annually.
	Corresponding information for 2012 on a quarterly basis, is planned to be published on 28 February 2013, as part of the Home Office's quarterly Immigration Statistics release.
	The figures for family dependent visas provided in response to this question and appearing in the following tables provide the latest available published statistics (2011) for entry clearance visa applications, entry clearance visas resolved (total decisions), and (2012 Q1 to Q3) for entry clearance visas issued.
	
		
			 Family dependant entry clearance visas: applications, resolved(1), issued and refused, 2011 
			    Of which: 
			 Family route Applications Total resolved Issued Refused Withdrawn or lapsed 
			 Child(3) 113 110 97 13 0 
			 Child (for settlement)(2) 6,835 7,045 4,584 2,389 72 
			 Other(4) 5,151 5,709 4,307 1,265 137 
			 Other (for settlement)(2,)( )(5) 2,653 2,743 1,885 834 24 
			 Total 14,752 15,607 10,873 4,501 233 
		
	
	
		
			 Family dependent entry clearance visas issued, 2012 Q1 and Q2 and Q3 
			 Family route 2012 Q1 2012 Q2 2012 Q3 
			 Child(3) 19 11 26 
			 Child (for settlement)(2) 1,108 1,118 936 
			 Other(4) 922 871 795 
			 Other (for settlement)(2,)( )(5) 499 413 404 
			 Total 2,548 2,413 2,161 
			 (1)( )The information provided relates to applications received and cases resolved in the calendar year 2011. Some applications received may be resolved in a subsequent year. (2) Relates to visas issued for Indefinite Leave to Enter the United Kingdom. (3) Does not include children of a parent given limited leave to enter or remain in the UK for a probationary period. (4) Relates to those given Limited Leave to Enter as pre-existing family members of those recognised as refugees or afforded humanitarian protection. (5) Relates to those dependants who are not partners or children, such as adult relatives and Ghurkhas and their dependants. Elderly adult dependent relatives cannot be separately identified from published entry clearance figures. Note: Figures for visa applications and resolutions are currently published on annual basis in the release ‘Immigration Statistics’. Source: Immigration Statistics, July to September 2012 
		
	
	The latest Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visas are published in the release Immigration Statistics July to September 2012, which is available from the Library of the House and on the Department's website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q3-2012/

Entry Clearances

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications by non-EU citizens for family dependent visas were (a) received and (b) fully processed in (i) October and (ii) November 2012.

Mark Harper: Information on the total number of entry clearance visa applications and entry clearance visas resolved (total decisions) is currently published annually.
	Corresponding information for 2012 on a quarterly basis, is planned to be published on 28 February 2013, as part of the Home Office's quarterly Immigration Statistics release.
	The figures for family dependent visas provided in response to this question and appearing in the following table provide the latest available published statistics (2011) for entry clearance visa applications, entry clearance visas resolved (total decisions), and (2012 Q1 to Q3) for entry clearance visas issued.
	
		
			 Family dependant entry clearance visas: applications, resolved(1), issued and refused, 2011 
			    of which 
			 Family route Applications Total Resolved Issued Refused Withdrawn or Lapsed 
			 Child(2) 113 110 97 13 0 
			 Child (for settlement)(3) 6,835 7,045 4,584 2,389 72 
			 Other(4) 5,151 5,709 4,307 1,265 137 
			 Other (for settlement)(3, 5) 2,653 2,743 1,885 834 24 
			 Total 14,752 15,607 10,873 4,501 233 
		
	
	
		
			 Family dependent entry clearance visas issued, 2012 Q1 and Q2 and Q3 
			 Family route 2012 Q1 2012 Q2 2012 Q3 
			 Child(2) 19 11 26 
			 Child (for settlement)(3) 1,108 1,118 936 
			 Other(4) 922 871 795 
			 Other (for settlement)(3, 5) 499 413 404 
			 Total 2,548 2,413 2,161 
			 (1 )The information provided relates to applications received and cases resolved in the calendar year 2011. Some applications received may be resolved in a subsequent year. (2 )Does not include children of a parent given limited leave to enter or remain in the UK for a probationary period. (3 )Relates to visas issued for indefinite leave to enter the United Kingdom. (4 )Relates to those given limited leave to enter as pre-existing family members of those recognised as refugees or afforded humanitarian protection. (5 )Relates to those dependants who are not partners or children, such as adult relatives and Ghurkhas and their dependants. Elderly adult dependent relatives cannot be separately identified from published entry clearance figures. Note: Figures for visa applications and resolutions are currently published on annual basis in the release “Immigration Statistics”. Source: Immigration Statistics, July to September 2012

Entry Clearances: Married People

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications by non-EU citizens for marriage visas were (a) received and (b) fully processed in (i) October and (ii) November 2012.

Mark Harper: Information on the total number of entry clearance visa applications and entry clearance visas resolved (total decisions) is currently published annually. Corresponding information for 2012 on a quarterly basis, is planned to be published on 28 February 2013, as part of the Home Office's quarterly Immigration Statistics release.
	The figures for visas relating to partners provided in response to this question and appearing in the following tables provide the latest available published statistics (2011) for entry clearance visa applications, entry clearance visas resolved (total decisions), and (2012 Q1 to Q3) for entry clearance visas issued.
	
		
			 Entry clearance visas for partners: Applications, resolved(1), issued and refused, 2011 
			    Of which: 
			 Family route Applications Total resolved Issued Refused Withdrawn or lapsed 
			 Partner 36,205 40,499 33,480 6,765 254 
			 Partner (for settlement)(2) 1,559 1,505 1,324 164 17 
			 Total 37,764 42,004 34,804 6,929 271 
		
	
	
		
			 Family route entry clearance visas for partners issued, 2012 Q1 and Q2 and Q3 
			 Family route 2012 Q1 2012 Q2 2012 Q3 
			 Partner 8,022 7,995 7,678 
			 Partner (for settlement)(2) 318 307 7,920 
			 Total 8,340 8,302 242 
			 (1) The information provided relates to applications received and cases resolved in the calendar year 2011. Some applications received may be resolved in a subsequent year. (2) Relates to visas issued for Indefinite Leave to Enter the United Kingdom. Notes: Figures for visa applications and resolutions are currently published on annual basis in the release “Immigration Statistics”. Source: “Immigration Statistics, July to September 2012” 
		
	
	The latest Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visas are published in the release Immigration Statistics July-September 2012, which is available from the Library of the House and on the Department's website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q3-2012/

Homosexuality

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who were convicted of gross indecency for homosexual acts and have not been convicted of any other crime have been asked to give a DNA sample by the police.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 21 January 2013
	The information requested is not collected centrally.
	Police forces are currently carrying out an exercise to take DNA samples and fingerprints from those with convictions for sexual offences who do not currently have DNA and fingerprint records on the national databases. Guidance issued to forces by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) in July 2012 clearly states that forces should not seek to obtain a DNA sample from those who have convictions relating only to consensual homosexual acts. The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 allows people with such convictions to apply for them to be disregarded.
	The ACPO Criminal Records Office sent further guidance to forces on 15 January 2013 to emphasise this point.

Intelligence Services

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2013, Official Report, column 419W, on intelligence services, whether the UK currently shares intelligence regarding drugs trafficking with (a) Pakistan, (b) Afghanistan and (c) Iran.

Jeremy Browne: The UK shares intelligence regarding drug trafficking with a range of international partners. We do so to tackle the international drugs trade and minimise the threat it poses to the UK. It is important to protect activities which form part of the UK's contribution to the international counter-narcotics effort and to respect the principle that international partners are able to operate in secrecy on matters of national security against organised crime. As such, it is our policy not to disclose details of our counter narcotics work, as to do so risks reducing its effectiveness and damaging international relations.

Meetings

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many meetings she and officials of her Department had with Google in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(2)  how many meetings she and officials of her Department had with Amazon in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(3)  how many meetings she and officials of her Department had with Oracle in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(4)  how many meetings she and officials of her Department had with Xerox in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(5)  how many meetings she and officials of her Department had with Dell CSC in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.
	(6)  how many meetings she and officials of her Department had with Symantec in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

James Brokenshire: Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Metropolitan Police: Disclosure of Information

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information her Department holds on the number of occasions the Metropolitan Police has declined to provide information under section 29 of the Data Protection Act 1998.

Damian Green: This information is not collected centrally.

National Policing Improvement Agency

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which responsibilities of the National Police Improvement Agency are being transferred to (a) the proposed National Crime Agency, (b) the College of Policing, (c) her Department and (d) are being discontinued.

Damian Green: The following responsibilities transferred from the National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA) to successor organisations as planned. Where relevant, examples of these responsibilities are included for illustration; the full list of units or teams delivering different parts of these requirements is on the NPIA website.
	(a) Interim move to Serious Organised Crime Agency on 1 April 2012 before transfer to National Crime Agency (NCA) on 1 October 2013 (subject to the passage of the Crime and Courts Bill) Specialist Operations Centre; Crime Operational Support; Central Witness Bureau; Serious Crime Analysis; National Missing Persons Bureau; National Injury Database.
	The Proceeds of Crime Centre moved to SOCA on 1 November 2012 before transfer to NCA in autumn 2013, albeit statutory responsibility for this function remains with the NPIA until the commencement of the Bill.
	(b) To the College of Policing on 1 December 2012 Professional Practice and Improvement; Criminal Justice and Local Policing; Equality, Diversity and Human Rights; Research, Analysis, and Information including the National Police Library; elements of the Communications Capability Development programme; Efficiency and Knowledge Support; Workforce Policy and Strategy; Learning Development, Strategy and Specialist Training Delivery; Examinations and Assessment; National College of Police Leadership and Leadership Services; the International Academy; Uniform Operational Support; Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN); the Police Gazette.
	(c) (i) to the Home Office on 1 October 2012 Airwave; National Databases (including the Police National Computer), IDENT1 and Livescan Fingerprint Service; National DNA Database; National IT Systems delivered by third party suppliers including Automatic Number Plate Recognition and Crime Mapper; the Police National Database; National Identification Services including the National Fingerprint Office; Forensics 21 Programme; Forensic Policy, Procurement and Pathology; Information Systems Improvement Strategy (subsequently discontinued); National Procurement Hub; 101 non-emergency; Reducing Bureaucracy Programme, elements of the National Police Air Service project, and a number of National Information Systems in development such as the Schengen Information System II.
	(c) (ii) To the Home Office in 2011—Non-IT Procurement.
	(d) None was discontinued by the NPIA at the point of transfer.

Police

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) Metropolitan Police and (b) other police force full-time equivalent police officers were working on (i) Operation Trident and (ii) Operation Sapphire in (A) 2010-11 and (B) 2011-12; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: The information requested is not held by the Home Office. Details of the number of police officers deployed on Operation Trident and Operation Sapphire is a matter for the Metropolitan Police.

Police: Finance

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what advice she has given to Police and Crime Commissioners for the setting of (a) budgets and (b) precept to council taxpayers for the next financial year; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  which police and crime commissioners have sought her advice on (a) setting of their budget and (b) the level of precept to be served on council taxpayers for the next financial year; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  if she will publish the level of precept to be served by each police and crime commissioner on council taxpayers for the next financial year.

Damian Green: Individual Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are responsible for setting the budget and precept for their police force area—not the Home Office. As a result, no PCC has sought advice on these issues from the Secretary of State.
	However, the Home Office has issued a 'Financial Management Code of Practice' to provide clarity around the financial governance arrangements within the police in England and Wales. This provides high level guidance while promoting flexibility and avoiding overt prescription.
	The levels of precept for PCCs in England are published annually on the Department for Communities and Local Government website. For Welsh PCCs, precept levels are published annually in a Statistical Bulletin issued by the Welsh Government. The deadline for PCCs to set their final precept for the next financial year is 1 March 2013. Details of PCC precept levels for the next financial year will be published in the usual way after this date.

Police: Vehicles

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance her Department gives to police and crime commissioners and police and crime panels on the (a) fitting and (b) use of covert lights for police force senior management vehicles; whether she requires each police and crime commissioner to inform her Department of the (i) fitting, (ii) cost and (iii) use of any such covert lights; and what steps she is taking to ensure that the use of such covert lights is (A) operationally appropriate and (B) value-for-money.

Damian Green: The Home Office has not issued any guidance to Police and Crime Commissioners or Police and Crime Panels on the fitting or use of covert public warning equipment (lights and sirens) to police vehicles used by police force senior management and we do not collect any information about this. The fitting and appropriate use of public warning equipment is an operational matter and is the responsibility of chief officers of police, who will take into account the value for money of such equipment as part of their decision making.

UK Border Agency

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether all UK Border Agency recruits responsible for (a) casework decisions and (b) writing reports (i) are required to and (ii) have relevant previous experience.

Mark Harper: Full training is given on joining the UK Agency, so relevant experience, while welcome, is not required.

Young Offenders

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many people under the age of 18 were arrested in each year from 1997 to 2012;
	(2)  how many people aged (a) 17, (b) 16, (c) 15, (d) 14, (e) 13, (f) 12, (g) 11 and (h) 10 years old were arrested in each year from 1997 to 2012;
	(3)  how many people under the age of 18 were arrested in each police authority area in each year from 1997 to 2012;
	(4)  how many people under the age of 18 were arrested for each type of offence in each year from 1997 to 2012.

Damian Green: Arrests data for England and Wales are collected by the Home Office and published on an annual basis in the National Statistics series “Police Powers and Procedures”. Data currently available cover the period up to the financial year 2010-11 and are included in the latest internet-only release, which is available via:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/police-research/police-powers-procedures-201011/
	Available data relating to the number of persons aged under 18 arrested for notifiable offences broken down by (a) age grouping, (b) police force area (c) offence grouping are provided in tables A, B and C respectively.
	Data on arrests of persons broken down by individual age are not collected centrally. Additionally, data on arrests of persons aged 10-17 broken down by police force area are not available for the year 1999-2000. Prior to 1999-2000, police forces were not required to provide data on arrests to the Home Office.
	
		
			 Table A: Number of arrests of persons aged under 18 by age group, England and Wales 1999-2000 to 2010-11 
			 Financial year Aged under 10 Aged 10-17 Total 
			 1999-2000 1,200 318,400 319,600 
			 2000-01 800 320,600 321,400 
			 2001-02 500 314,200 314,700 
			 2002-03 500 299,500 300,000 
			 2003-04 700 313,200 313,900 
			 2004-05 800 332,800 333,600 
			 2005-06 800 348,500 349,300 
			 2006-07 446 353,370 353,816 
			 2007-08 163 315,403 315,566 
			 2008-09 83 273,269 273,352 
			 2009-10 38 241,459 241,497 
			 2010-11 23 210,660 210,683 
			 Note: Figures for the years 2000-01 to 2005-06 are estimated due to unavailable data from some police forces. As a result, figures are presented rounded to the nearest hundred. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table B: Persons aged under 18 arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences) by police force area, England and Wales 2000-01 to 2010-11 
			 Police force area 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Avon and Somerset 6,594 6,310 5,614 5,569 6,216 7,224 8,292 7,990 6,909 6,231 5,978 
			 Bedfordshire n/a 2,037 2,748 3,150 3,607 3,729 3,489 3,265 2,872 2,491 2,286 
			 Cambridgeshire 3,375 3,241 2,844 3,094 3,386 4,869 4,466 4,155 3,731 3,458 3,049 
			 Cheshire 3,852 3,949 4,356 3,477 5,349 5,623 4,543 3,499 3,076 2,520 2,192 
			 Cleveland 4,473 5,986 4,858 4,973 n/a 5,079 3,946 3,755 3,115 3,079 2,627 
			 Cumbria 2,749 2,825 2,651 2,545 2,992 3,416 3,261 2,701 2,444 1,929 1,481 
			 Derbyshire 4,367 4,889 4,902 5,251 5,776 5,511 4,878 5,158 4,591 3,719 3,411 
			 Devon and Cornwall 6,648 6,103 6,297 6,208 6,090 6,478 6,102 5,575 4,290 3,719 3,349 
			 Dorset 2,539 3,061 2,511 2,727 3,578 3,900 4,074 3,464 2,672 2,336 1,916 
			 Durham n/a n/a n/a 3,345 4,863 5,775 6,260 4,439 3,895 3,399 3,385 
			 Essex 7,257 7,209 6,210 7,652 7,878 8,404 8,360 11,623 10,424 9,057 6,577 
			 Gloucestershire 2,427 2,328 2,166 2,277 2,488 3,271 3,553 3,036 2,749 1,990 1,228 
			 Greater Manchester 19,995 19,034 17,570 19,734 23,192 23,778 23,121 19,532 15,698 13,019 10,857 
			 Hampshire 12,531 12,619 11,750 13,205 14,039 13,194 12,350 10,931 9,259 8,494 7,265 
		
	
	
		
			 Hertfordshire 4,417 4,396 4,425 4,937 5,330 5,509 5,702 5,015 4,525 4,299 3,348 
			 Humberside 6,766 6,530 6,190 6,164 6,393 6,019 5,664 4,774 4,580 4,277 3,924 
			 Kent 8,151 9,524 9,452 9,834 10,152 10,729 10,598 9,599 9,357 8,537 6,371 
			 Lancashire 9,289 11,082 9,504 11,883 13,867 13,729 15,172 12,136 9,897 8,621 8,031 
			 Leicestershire 4,816 4,838 4,554 4,716 4,817 5,485 5,138 4,362 3,513 3,494 2,922 
			 Lincolnshire n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 3,899 3,506 2,927 2,408 2,986 
			 London, City of n/a 380 359 343 274 331 381 247 274 191 276 
			 Merseyside 11,796 10,174 11,055 12,082 9,172 8,196 9,504 9,995 9,022 8,727 7,660 
			 Metropolitan police 43,901 41,221 37,394 39,297 40,074 43,583 50,438 45,636 42,382 42,478 42,069 
			 Norfolk 3,593 3,576 2,855 3,095 3,342 3,327 3,268 3,464 3,162 2,548 2,298 
			 Northamptonshire 3,190 2,963 2,888 2,979 3,424 3,827 3,803 3,110 2,714 2,432 2,115 
			 Northumbria 11,540 11,456 11,877 11,609 14,660 15,743 17,192 14,440 12,649 9,292 8,560 
			 North Yorkshire 4,785 4,468 4,976 5,724 n/a 5,289 4,090 4,403 2,699 3,725 3,303 
			 Nottinghamshire 9,215 9,090 7,711 8,466 8,278 9,100 8,611 7,904 6,388 5,634 5,273 
			 South Yorkshire 7,923 8,580 8,550 8,477 9,511 9,726 8,981 8,734 7,327 6,030 4,941 
			 Staffordshire n/a n/a n/a 5,929 6,397 5,805 6,152 5,976 4,422 3,983 3,478 
			 Suffolk 2,863 3,038 2,918 3,579 3,601 3,526 3,341 2,298 2,783 2,312 1,906 
			 Surrey 4,115 3,925 3,698 4,190 4,574 4,718 4,609 3,698 2,495 2,070 1,863 
			 Sussex 6,598 6,003 6,315 7,622 8,662 9,164 9,037 8,828 6,901 5,933 5,451 
			 Thames Valley 12,277 11,567 11,310 12,072 14,871 14,572 13,904 12,382 11,080 8,685 6,873 
			 Warwickshire 1,644 1,739 1,434 1,595 1,870 2,033 2,517 2,034 1,629 1,166 1,042 
			 West Mercia 4,436 4,915 4,927 5,224 6,137 6,030 6,272 4,964 5,327 4,134 3,387 
			 West Midlands 18,846 16,481 14,951 15,223 12,062 12,438 12,343 11,333 9,735 6,910 5,104 
			 West Yorkshire 15,062 16,775 18,433 18,522 20,343 24,042 24,411 19,274 14,960 12,444 9,767 
			 Wiltshire 2,778 2,579 2,371 2,187 2,078 2,365 1,604 1,191 1,183 1,527 1,370 
			 Dyfed-Powys n/a 2,951 2,906 3,250 2,829 3,263 3,351 2,820 2,643 2,256 1,897 
			 Gwent n/a n/a 3,755 4,073 3,952 4,022 3,884 2,995 2,653 2,546 2,041 
			 North Wales 3,645 3,652 3,812 4,106 4,271 4,500 5,445 5,194 4,953 3,806 2,705 
			 South Wales 9,910 9,422 8,976 8,517 8,101 8,711 7,810 6,131 5,447 5,591 4,121 
			             
			 England and Wales(1) 321,400 314,700 300,000 313,900 333,600 349,300 353,816 315,566 273,352 241,497 210,683 
			 (1) Figures for England and Wales for the years 2000-01 to 2005-06 are estimated due to unavailable data from some police forces. Additionally, totals for these years for England and Wales are rounded to the nearest hundred. As a result, police force area figures may not sum to totals for the years 2000-01 to 2005-06. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table C: Persons aged under 18 arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences) by offence group, England and Wales 1999-2000 to 2010-11 
			 Offence group 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 
			 Violence against the person 48,700 49,900 50,400 51,700 63,700 76,800 
			 Sexual offences 3,700 3,700 4,200 4,200 4,300 4,400 
			 Robbery 12,800 14,500 16,000 14,800 15,100 15,700 
			 Burglary 36,600 36,100 34,800 32,900 33,000 33,100 
			 Theft and handling stolen goods 130,400 130,300 120,900 106,200 102,200 101,200 
			 Fraud and forgery 3,800 3,600 3,500 2,900 2,800 2,600 
			 Criminal damage 47,600 47,500 47,200 45,900 52,700 59,600 
			 Drug offences 16,700 16,000 17,600 19,500 18,100 14,600 
			 Other 19,200 19,900 20,200 21,900 22,000 25,500 
			 Total 319,600 321,400 314,700 300,000 313,900 333,600 
		
	
	
		
			 Offence group 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Violence against the person 86,900 90,020 81,440 69,658 63,564 53,990 
			 Sexual offences 4,700 4,591 4,430 4,387 4,735 4,565 
			 Robbery 17,100 20,655 16,973 14,631 13,928 14,087 
			 Burglary 33,500 33,934 29,372 26,625 24,915 22,609 
			 Theft and handling stolen goods 98,700 95,826 83,398 70,278 59,818 49,437 
			 Fraud and forgery 2,400 2,045 1,906 1,876 1,553 1,258 
			 Criminal damage 63,400 62,663 52,486 41,886 33,250 27,013 
		
	
	
		
			 Drug offences 14,400 12,805 15,023 15,701 15,656 14,635 
			 Other 28,000 31,277 30,538 28,310 24,078 23,089 
			 Total 349,300 353,816 315,566 273,352 241,497 210,683 
			 Note: Figures for the years 2000/01 to 2005/06 are estimated due to unavailable data from some police forces. As a result, figures are presented rounded to the nearest hundred.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Animal Welfare

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many cases of (a) wildlife crime and (b) animal cruelty the Crown Prosecution Service has prosecuted in each of the last five years; and what the conviction rates were for such offences.

Dominic Grieve: Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) records identify the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in magistrates courts, rather than the number of defendants prosecuted, as defendants may be charged with more than one offence.
	Offences of wildlife crime and animal cruelty may be prosecuted under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, the Deer Act 1991, the Hunting Act 2004, the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996. The table showing the number of these offences prosecuted by the CPS during the last five years has been deposited in the Library of the House. Prosecutions can also be brought by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).
	The CPS does not hold data on the conviction rates by offence.

Animal Welfare

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many cases of (a) wildlife crime and (b) animal cruelty have been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service for a charging decision in each of the last five years.

Dominic Grieve: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains no central record of the offences or category of offences on cases referred to the CPS for a charging decision. This information could only be obtained by examining all of the files sent to the CPS for charging advice, which would incur disproportionate cost.
	Many cases of wildlife crime and animal cruelty are prosecuted by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) directly without reference to CPS.

Autonomy

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General whether the Serious Fraud Office is carrying out a criminal investigation into the company Autonomy.

Oliver Heald: As and when matters are brought to the attention of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) they are assessed in the context of the SFO's remit to investigate fraud, bribery and corruption. If appropriate, relevant matters will be considered for criminal investigation in line with SFO internal procedures. The SFO does not comment on its assessments or their status at any one time but does publish on its website details of those cases formally adopted for criminal investigation, whenever this is possible without prejudice to the investigation.

Birds: Eggs

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many cases of egg stealing from the nests of wild birds have been prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service in each of the last five years.

Dominic Grieve: Stealing eggs from the nests of wild birds are prosecuted under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (WCA). The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) hold data related to the number of offences charged under this Act but not the number of individual cases. It is possible that some defendants may be charged with more than one offence. The following table shows the number of offences charged under the relevant sections of the Act for the last five years:
	
		
			   2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 1(1)(c) Taking or destroying an egg of any wild bird 3 2 1 1 5 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 1(2)(b) Possession or control of an egg or part of an egg of any wild bird 10 21 6 3 18

Burglary

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many burglary prosecutions the Crown Prosecution Service has carried out in each of the last five years; and what the rate of conviction was.

Dominic Grieve: The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) provide an analysis of the outcome of proceedings, divided into 12 principal offence categories indicating the most serious offence with which the defendant was charged at the time of finalisation. The following table shows, in each of the last five years, the volume and conviction rates for defendants whose principal offence was Burglary.
	
		
			  Number Conviction rate (percentage) 
			 2007-08 29,632 86.1 
			 2008-09 29,083 87.1 
			 2009-10 27,512 86.1 
			 2010-11 29,149 85.8 
			 2011-12 29,280 85.6 
		
	
	The principal offence category Burglary comprises offences of burglary and aggravated burglary either in a dwelling or in a building other than a dwelling. The figures represent the volumes and conviction rates for offences categorised as Burglary handled by the 13 Areas of the CPS.

Burglary

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many cases of burglary have been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service by the police for a charging decision in each of the last five years.

Dominic Grieve: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains no central record of the offences or category of offences on cases referred to the CPS for a charging decision. This information could only be obtained by examining all of the files sent to the CPS for charging advice, which would incur disproportionate cost.

Training

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Attorney-General how many away days the Law Officers' Departments have held since 2010; and what the cost was of each such event.

Dominic Grieve: The information requested is contained in the following table.
	
		
			 Department Number of recorded away day events Cost (£) 
			 SFO 2 (1)32,297 
			 AGO 4 (2)4,166 
			 TSol(3) 9 200 
			 (1) £27,207 of this relates to an all staff event held in April 2010. (2) The cost relates to a single all-staff away day held in March 2010. (3) TSol data also covers HMCPSI. 
		
	
	The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not centrally record the information requested and this could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

PRIME MINISTER

G8

Keith Vaz: To ask the Prime Minister which additional heads of government he proposes to invite to attend the forthcoming G8 summit hosted by the UK.

David Cameron: Attendance options for non G8 country attendance are still under consideration. A decision will be taken in due course.

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Prime Minister when he expects Sir John Chilcot to publish his report on Iraq.

David Cameron: The Iraq Inquiry has previously advised the Government that it will need until at least summer 2013 to publish the report. Further details can be found at the Iraq Inquiry website.

Rescue Services: Glencoe

George Galloway: To ask the Prime Minister if he will meet members of the Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team to convey his thanks for the action taken by that team on 21 January 2013.

David Cameron: I wish to express my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of those who died in the avalanche on 21 January. I would also like to pay tribute to members of the Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team for the brave action they took in the aftermath of the avalanche, along with those individuals in the Northern Constabulary and the Royal Navy for their part in the rescue efforts. A Minister from the Scotland Office will meet the Rescue Team to express the Government's thanks.

World War II: Military Decorations

David Burrowes: To ask the Prime Minister when the Arctic Convoy Star Medal will be awarded.

David Cameron: At present the Royal Mint Advisory Committee is developing the design of the medal and the aim is that this will be announced by early March, once it has received the necessary approvals. The application process and qualification criteria will be announced at the same time. The priority for awarding the medal will be given to veterans and widows, with applications from additional next of kin dealt with thereafter.

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of questions for written answer on a named day by No. 10 Downing Street (a) received a substantive answer after the named day and (b) have not received a substantive answer in this Session;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of questions tabled for ordinary written answer by No. 10 Downing Street (a) were answered after 30 days and (b) have not been answered in this Session.

David Cameron: Departmental statistics on written parliamentary questions are published in full by the Procedure Committee at the end of each session.

Yemen

Keith Vaz: To ask the Prime Minister when he last spoke with the President of Yemen.

David Cameron: I last spoke to President Hadi on 24 September 2012 during his visit to the UK. In recognition of our long and productive bilateral relationship and our leading role in the Friends of Yemen, the President chose the UK for his first visit to a non-Arab country since becoming Head of State in February 2011. We discussed the support that the UK is providing Yemen on political, economic and security reform and agreed to continue working closely together to tackle the threat of terrorism posed by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

EDUCATION

Boarding Schools

Steven Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will take steps to ensure the financial sustainability of state boarding schools.

David Laws: State boarding schools are responsible for ensuring their own financial sustainability through charging fees for the cost of the boarding provision. The fees can cover the maintenance of school buildings. Education must be provided free of charge as in all other state funded schools.

Charities

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much funding his Department provided for (a) Action on Addiction, (b) Adoption UK, (c) Adoption and Fostering Information Line, (d) child bereavement charities and (e) Well Child in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13 to date; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department has made no funding available to these organisations during the period April 2010 to November 2012.

Free Schools

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he has taken to ensure that 16-18 free schools are funded to provide free meals.

David Laws: No schools—whether LA maintained schools, Academies, Further Education colleges, 16-18 Free Schools receive specific funding for free school meals. All 16-19 providers, whether schools or colleges, are funded by the same formula, and that formula contains a factor for deprivation. 16-18 Free Schools are free to use this funding to provide free meals.
	16-18 Free Schools are treated in a similar manner to sixth form colleges under legislation, in that their students are not entitled to free school meals. However, a 16-18 Free School that wishes to provide free meals out of its overall budget (as other schools must), is free to do so.
	We are presently reviewing the issue of free school meal entitlement beyond 16.

Metropolitan Police

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much funding his Department allocated to the Metropolitan police in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13; how much he plans to allocate in future years; and if he will make a statement.

David Laws: The total funding made available to the Metropolitan police by this Department was £15,394 in September 2010 to act as a national partner under the ContactPoint project. No funding has been made available since then.

Schools: Finance

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much was spent in total on educating each child in the cohort of children in state education who completed a 14 year period of education in the school year ending in  (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11.

David Laws: For pupils who completed their state schooling aged 18 in 2009-10, their schools will have on average received approximately £58,580 revenue funding per pupil (2011-12 prices) over the 14 years of their schooling from when they started reception in 1996.
	For those who completed their 14-year period in 2010-11, having started reception in 1997, their schools will have on average received £61,250 revenue funding per pupil (2011-12 prices).

Special Educational Needs

Guy Opperman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to improve outcomes for children with special educational needs in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) the North East and (c) England.

Edward Timpson: The Government is committed to improving the way in which children and young people who have special educational needs (SEN) or who are disabled are identified, assessed, and supported. Our proposed legislative reforms will improve the system for 0 to 25-year-olds by giving parents and young people more control and focusing on the outcomes that they want. Local authorities will provide clear information about local services for all children and young people with additional needs. Education, health and care services will jointly commission services to meet the needs of children and young people. We will introduce a new integrated assessment and plan, the Educational Health and Care Plan, which will replace Learning Difficulty Assessments and Statements of SEN—retaining all the protections provided by Statements—but will better reflect the child's or young person's plans for the future as well as their current needs and there will be a stronger focus on preparing for adulthood.
	We are testing new approaches to improve choice and control and improved outcomes for families and young people in 20 pathfinders involving 31 local areas. In the North East, this involves Gateshead and Hartlepool with Darlington, putting families and young people at the centre. Last year, I announced an 18 month extension of the pathfinder programme, to September 2014. Learning from the pathfinders has informed development of the Children and Families Bill and will continue to feed into development of regulations and guidance.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Developing Countries: Mental Health Services

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which Minister in her Department is responsible for mental health issues in developing countries.

Lynne Featherstone: I am the DFID Minister responsible for mental health issues in developing countries.

Plants

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department has spent on indoor and outdoor plants and trees since her appointment.

Alan Duncan: The Department has spent nothing on indoor and outdoor plants and trees since the Secretary of State's appointment. The last such departmental expenditure was £17,803 in 2008-09 and £13,479 in 2009-10.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Algeria

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the number of UK nationals currently working in Algeria; and what advice and information his Department is offering to individuals and businesses in that country.

Alistair Burt: We estimate that there are around 450 British nationals working in Algeria. This figure will fluctuate given the transient nature of the international work force in Algeria.
	Our Travel Advice for Algeria was last reviewed and updated during the incident at In Amenas. The latest update issued on 24 January; this includes advice against all travel within 100 km of the Libyan-Tunisian border south of the Algerian town of Tebessa. We recommend that individuals already in, or planning to travel to Algeria regularly check FCO Travel Advice for updates.
	During the crisis we were in close contact with BP and the other companies involved. On 28 January I will meet with representatives of British companies in the extractive industries who have a presence in Algeria to discuss future co-operation.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he plans to contest the ruling of the Information Commissioner on the application of Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations 2004 to information held by his Department relating to the British Indian Ocean Territory; and when this information will be released.

Mark Simmonds: Further to my answer of 20 December 2012, Official Report, column 886W. We will not be appealing the Decision Notice of 6 November 2012. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 do not apply to Overseas Territories. The Information Commissioner has accepted that the Governments of the British Indian Ocean Territory and the UK are constitutionally separate. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have accepted that information related to the British Indian Ocean Territory stored on FCO systems is subject to requests made to the FCO under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the ceiling on the costs to his Department of litigation concerning the desire of the Chagos Islanders to return to the Islands is including the Marine Protected Area.

Mark Simmonds: There is no ceiling. While it has not instigated these cases, the Government will continue to defend them where we consider that to be the right course of action.

Burma

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has had discussions with his EU counterparts on the discovery of the use of Swedish-made weapons in Burma.

Hugo Swire: In December last year, Sweden's Agency for Non-Proliferation and Export Controls said an investigation had revealed that the Swedish-made weapons found by Kachin forces in early December were part of a larger shipment of arms Sweden sold to the Indian Government. It remains unclear how they ended up being used in Burma. Swedish Trade Minister, Ewa Bjorling, has requested clarification from Indian authorities on the matter.

Burma

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Minister of State raised the use of rape against ethnic minorities by the Burmese army with the Government of Burma on his visit to that country in December 2012.

Hugo Swire: During my visit to Burma in December, I met Defence Minister Lt Gen Wai Lwin and set out clearly our continued concerns about human rights, including allegations of abuses by troops.
	I also met Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin. I pressed Burma to sign the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and requested support for the Foreign Secretary's Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative.
	British officials continue to urge the Burmese Government to sign up to key international human rights instruments such the ICCPR as part of Burma's ongoing commitment to reform.

Burma

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has held with the Burmese Government on ensuring that the recent ceasefire between rebels in Kachin and the Burmese army is maintained.

Hugo Swire: As I set out during Foreign and Commonwealth Office oral questions on 22 January 2012, Official Report, columns 150-51, we continue to call for the cessation of violence in Kachin State at every opportunity. During my visit to Burma in December, I made clear to the Burmese Government the need to make progress on resolving the conflict in Kachin State and to move towards a lasting peaceful political settlement.
	In my statement of 3 January, I expressed the British Government's deep concern at the escalation in hostilities in Kachin State, and the risk that continued violence poses to the chances of a lasting peace. I emphasised the need for military commanders in Burma to heed their President's calls for an end to hostilities.
	Our ambassador to Burma reiterated these concerns with senior members of the Burmese Government on 16 and 19 January.

Egypt

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Egyptian government to facilitate independent, international observation of the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

Alistair Burt: We have raised the question of international election monitoring with the Egyptian election authorities. They have taken early action and published guidelines for international observation for the forthcoming parliamentary elections. The Carter Center and another partner of the UK Arab Partnership programme, the South African-based Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa, have had constructive discussions with the Egyptian Government and fully expect to be accredited and deploy observers for these elections.
	The UK is committed to supporting political transition and strengthening democracy in Egypt. This should include progress on free and fair parliamentary elections which allow all Egyptians to make their voices heard. Through the Arab Partnership Fund we provided early financial and public support to the Carter Center monitoring mission, one of the few international organisations allowed to observe the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2012.

Egypt

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will assess the commitment of the Egyptian government to equal rights for women.

Alistair Burt: We welcome President Mursi's stated commitment to protecting the rights of women and forming an inclusive Government, which governs on behalf of all Egyptians, respects human rights, and commits to tackling discrimination. The UK has been clear with the Egyptian authorities that women's participation is a key part of supporting political transition and building stability.
	Along with other international observers we are concerned that the new constitution lacks full clarity on human rights, including equality for women. As such we welcome President Mursi's offer of a National Dialogue to consider contentious articles of the constitution. We, also, note that President Mursi has condemned the increase of harassment of women in Egyptian streets.
	I visited Egypt on 16 January and discussed our concerns about the protection of women with a range of political and civil society figures in Egypt. We will continue to follow the human rights situation closely.

Egypt

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of proposed legal steps taken by the Egyptian government against opponents of the Presidential Decree issued in Autumn 2012.

Alistair Burt: We are closely monitoring progress on the political transition in Egypt. We look to the Egyptian authorities to respect the political freedoms of all individuals. I visited Egypt on 16 January and discussed the situation in Egypt including the national dialogue with a range of political figures, including the opposition. I have also been in contact with the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mohammed Kamel Amr.
	We are urging progress on an inclusive political process, including free and fair elections, broader participation in the national dialogue between different political forces and a review process for the Constitution. The UK condemns recent outbreaks of violence which cannot assist the process of dialogue needed to move political transition forward.

Kashmir

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will hold urgent discussions with the governments of both India and Pakistan to ensure that recent police messages in the Srinagar district to prepare for a nuclear attack do not escalate tension in the Kashmir region.

Hugo Swire: We are aware through media reports, of the public notice. However, we have also taken note of the subsequent comments from the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on the notice. We therefore do not judge that discussions are required at this time.

Mali

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received of extra-judicial killings or human rights abuses by the Malian army; what recent discussions he has had with the French government on any such reports; with reference to UN Security Council Resolution 2085, adopted on 20 December 2012, what steps he is taking to (a) expedite the deployment of an independent force of UN human rights monitors with the responsibility to monitor the application of international humanitarian law, investigate reports of human rights abuses and report regularly and publicly on any findings and (b) ensure that all incoming ECOWAS forces are given comprehensive training by their commanders in international humanitarian law before deployment to the front; if he will make it his policy that the mandate of the international force must include the need to develop rules of engagement that make minimising harm to civilians and civilian populations a priority during military operations and recommend that the international force include military lawyers with battlefield experience in the laws of war; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Simmonds: We are aware of reports of human rights violations carried out by members of the Malian armed forces. I discussed the issue with Malian Foreign Minister Coulibaly when I met him on 24 January.
	We take any allegations of human rights violations very seriously. UN Security Council Resolution 2085, passed in December, emphasises the responsibility of the Malian authorities to protect civilians. As part of a multidisciplinary presence in Mali, the resolution also called on the UN to monitor the human rights situation. We understand that a team of human rights officials will form part of the new UN Office in Mali, which began deploying on 19 January. We will encourage the Malian authorities to allow the UN monitors access to investigate allegations of human rights abuses and violations.
	Human rights training will be an integral part of the EU Training Mission for Mali's armed forces, which we expect to deploy to Mali from February. The UK is also reviewing potential support options for Anglophone Economic Community of West African States contributors to the African-led International Support Mission to Mali. We anticipate that any military training would cover the relevant principles of international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians and human rights, and will take account of UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) 2071 and 2085. UNSCR 2085 clearly states the responsibilities on all parties to protect civilians and respect the primacy of international law.

Middle East

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2012, Official Report, columns 767-8W, on Middle East, what other actions the Government has taken to comply with paragraph 7 of UN Security Council Resolution 465 (1980).

Alistair Burt: The UK continues to comply with paragraph 7 of UN Security Council Resolution 465 (1980), calling upon states not to provide Israel with any assistance to be used specifically in connection with settlements in the occupied territories. We, together with the general international community, remain clear on the status of settlements: they constitute a clear violation of international law, are an obstacle to peace, and a threat to the viability of the two-state solution.
	We continue to condemn Israeli settlement activity. Most recently the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), issued a statement on 18 December condemning the decision by the Jerusalem District Planning Board to give approval for a plan to build 1,500 housing units in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Ramat Shlomo, and expressing concern at reports that the Board is considering giving the approval to a further 5,000 housing units in East Jerusalem. I also issued a statement on 26 December, making it clear that these steps were further profoundly provocative actions that run contrary to the Fourth Geneva Convention and created a further obstacle to peace. Our condemnation of the legalisation of outpost Nofei Nehemia and the publishing of tenders in Kiryat Arba and Efrat was raised by the UK's Permanent Representative to the UN during the UN Security Council's open debate on the Middle East on 23 January.

North Africa

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he plans to take with governments in North Africa to help prevent that region becoming the next area where al-Qaeda or similar groups carry out terrorist acts.

Alistair Burt: The recent event in In Amenas, Algeria, and the international action to combat violent Islamist extremists in Mali highlight the threat from terrorism in North West Africa and the wider Sahel. The situation requires a strong collective response. We are working actively with international partners and the countries in the region to tackle the terrorist threat and counter the extremists' narrative, but also to address the underlying conflicts and grievances the terrorists exploit.

Refugees

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking on the international stage to tackle the problem of statelessness.

Hugo Swire: The UK is signatory to two UN Resolutions on statelessness: The 1954 convention relating to the status of stateless persons and the 1961 convention on the reduction of statelessness. The UK remains committed to the principles set out in these conventions and to working with the UN high commissioner for refugees to provide lasting help to refugees and stateless persons across the world.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office makes bilateral representations to Governments, where appropriate, to ensure persons are not rendered stateless for political reasons and to regularise the status of those who are disadvantaged or suffering because they are stateless.

Senior Civil Servants

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many and what proportion of officials of the three most senior grades in his Department have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement, (c) left the Department for alternative employment, (d) been dismissed, (e) taken long-term sick leave and (f) taken administrative leave since May 2010.

Alistair Burt: Senior managers with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) senior management structure (SMS) fall within four grade bands. The following information therefore relates to SMS staff in grades 2, 3 and 4 only.
	
		
			  SMS 2 SMS 3 SMS4 
			 Currently employed 106 25 4 
			 Since May 2010 average number employed 107 26 5 
			 (a) Resigned 12 (11%) 0 0 
			 (b) Early retirement 9 (8%) 4 (15%) 2 (40%) 
			 (c) Left to take up alternative employment(1) 13 (12%) 10 (38%) 2 (20%) 
			 (d) Dismissed 0 0 0 
			 (e) Long term sick leave(2) — 0 0 
		
	
	
		
			 (f) Administrative leave(3) 0 0 0 
			 (1 )These figures are from October 2010 only. We do not hold a complete record of all former SMS staff seeking alternative employment once they have left the FCO. However SMS staff are required to seek approval, through the FCO outside business appointments process, before taking up a new appointment, to avoid any suspicion of impropriety. All positions taken up by staff at SMS grades 3 and 4 are listed on the website of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA). (2 )We have applied the Cabinet Office definition i.e. any absence which is more than 21 working days or 29 calendar days. Due to the small number of staff at SMS grade 2, who have taken long term sick leave, the release of this information could lead to the individuals being identified. We therefore judge that disclosure would contravene data protection principles. (3 )The FCO does not use the term administrative leave. We have interpreted it to mean when a member of staff is suspended, on full pay, pending an investigation.

Sri Lanka

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the effects of high security zones in Sri Lanka on residents and displaced civilians in that country.

Alistair Burt: The British Government continues to monitor the situation in the north and east of the country and we consistently raise the need for progress on scaling back of high security zones.
	We are pleased that the Government of Sri Lanka has, in the last two months, opened some high security zones for resettlement in the north of the country. This will allow numerous families to return home to their villages and subsequently allow welfare camps to be able to be closed down.
	The British Government, together with international partners, will work to support the Sri Lankan people in their pursuit of enduring peace and reconciliation. We will continue to use all opportunities to discuss human rights concerns with the Sri Lankan Government.

Sri Lanka

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of (a) the size of the Sri Lankan army's presence in Tamil-dominated areas and (b) the relationship between the civilian population and the security forces in the north of Sri Lanka.

Alistair Burt: The military presence in many areas is less invasive than at the end of the conflict, but armed forces continue to occupy large areas of civilian land, now classified as high security zones or military cantonments. Military involvement in civil and commercial activities has reduced in some areas but remains widespread and a source of tension.
	We regularly encourage the Government to implement the Lesson Learnt and Reconciliation Commission recommendations, including scaling back the role of the military in civilian affairs and reducing its presence as far as is possible consistent with legitimate security needs.

Thailand

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the trial and conviction of Somyot Prueksakasemsuk in Thailand under that country's lèse majesté laws; and what recent representations he has made to the Thai government to support the promotion of human rights in that country.

Hugo Swire: Our embassy in Bangkok has been following closely the case of Somyot Prueksakasemsuk. Three representatives of the embassy attended the trial on 23 January, and the embassy subsequently reported details of the outcome to me. Following the verdict, the European Union issued a statement expressing deep concern at the decision to sentence Somyot to 10 years imprisonment. The statement noted that the verdict seriously undermined the right to freedom of expression and press freedom. Our ambassador has also raised the issue with the Thai authorities.
	The Government frequently raises human rights concerns with Thailand, both at ministerial and official level. For example, the then Minister of State, the hon. Member for Taunton Deane (Mr Browne), raised human rights issues when he met Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung during his visit to Thailand in July 2012. That discussion included an exchange of views on lèse majesté.

Thailand

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 21 May 2012, Official Report, column 454W, on Thailand, what recent representations he has made to the government of Thailand in support of freedom of expression and reform of the lèse-majesté laws.

Hugo Swire: The Government frequently raises the issues of freedom of expression and the lèse-majesté law with Thai interlocutors, both at ministerial and official level. The then Minister of State, the hon. Member for Taunton Deane (Mr Browne), raised lèse-majesté among other human rights issues when he met Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung during his visit to Thailand in July 2012.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the name of the mission that will succeed ISAF in Afghanistan after 2014 is; and how many troops the UK will commit to it.

Andrew Robathan: At the NATO Chicago conference and at the request of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, a new post-2014 mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan National Security Force was agreed. As NATO reported, following a recent meeting of the ISAF Chiefs of Defence, details on how we will conduct the post-2014 mission have not yet been finalised; this includes the name of the mission.
	No final decision has been made on the UK's post-2014 presence, but as we have made clear, UK troops will not operate in a combat role or be in significant numbers in Afghanistan. The UK has responded to the Afghans' specific request to lead the collective effort for establishing the Afghan National Army Officer Academy in Kabul, which is now under construction. The number of troops that may be required to fulfil this mentoring and training role is yet to be finalised. On 19 December 2012, Official Report, column 842, the Prime Minister said
	“we are prepared to look at other issues above and beyond that, but this is the starting baseline”.

Afghanistan

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many attacks have taken place in Afghanistan during the last three years in (a) the ANA and (b) the ANP.

Andrew Robathan: We do not track the number of attacks in the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police; this is a matter for the Afghan Government.

Air Force

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect of reductions of the Royal Air Force and its pilot training programme on the UK's ability to (a) maintain operational viability in areas of active service and (b) retain capacity for future deployments; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: In line with the commitments set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review the RAF continues to ensure it has the capability to deliver its outputs in support of current and future operations.

Armed Forces: Coeliac Disease

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the (a) Army, (b) Navy and (c) Royal Air Force are known to have been diagnosed with Coeliac disease.

Mark Francois: As at 1 December 2012, of the 180,460 UK armed forces personnel, 140 have been identified as having a diagnosis of coeliac disease.
	Of those 140 UK armed forces personnel, 56 are Army personnel, 44 are Royal Air Force personnel and 40 Royal Navy personnel.
	Service personnel who present significant conditions of the alimentary system such as coeliac, which either degrades the functional capacity and performance, and/or fails to respond satisfactorily to treatment, may require to be downgraded non-deployable, or recommended for medical discharge. However, the severity of each case is considered on its individual merit.

Armed Forces: Housing

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many members of the (a) Army, (b) Royal Air Force and (c) Royal Navy are not living in service family accommodation;
	(2)  how many members of the armed forces currently serving in Afghanistan are not living in service family accommodation.

Mark Francois: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 December 2012, Official Report, column 830W, to the hon. Member for Dumfries and Galloway (Mr Brown).

Armed Forces: Housing Benefit

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on changes to housing benefit in relation to the under-occupancy of social housing;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the effect of changes to housing benefit on (a) regular and (b) reserve forces.

Mark Francois: holding answer 25 January 2013
	I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 January 2013, Official Report, column 285W, to the hon. Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Tom Blenkinsop).

Armed Forces: Redundancy

Duncan Hames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many personnel reached their immediate pensions point in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006 and were made compulsorily redundant within one year;
	(2)  how many Army personnel made compulsorily redundant between 1993 and 2006 within one year of reaching their immediate pensions point were (a) officers and (b) non-officers;
	(3)  how many personnel between (a) 1993 and (b) 1994 reached their immediate pensions point and were made compulsorily redundant within (i) one year and (ii) two years.

Mark Francois: The information for these years is not held centrally in the required format and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Redundancy

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Written Ministerial Statement of 22 January 2013, on armed forces redundancy programme tranche 3, 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the potential effect of those redundancies on jobs in manufacturing military equipment;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the potential effect of those redundancies on jobs in the armed forces' supply chain.

Mark Francois: The armed forces redundancy programme is about service personnel reductions and the restructuring of the armed forces. It does not apply to private sector civilian jobs in manufacturing military equipment and neither should it have an effect on civilian jobs in the armed forces supply chain.

Armed Forces: Redundancy

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 22 January 2013, on armed forces redundancy programme tranche 3, how many of those redundancies will be from civilian jobs.

Mark Francois: None. The armed forces redundancy programme does not apply to civilian personnel, for whom there is a separate programme to achieve the necessary reductions. It is planned that we will have reduced the civil service totals within the Ministry of Defence by 32,000 by 2020.

Army: Recruitment

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  which Army Careers Offices and Careers Clinics he proposes to close in each region in the next 12 months;
	(2)  how many Army Careers Offices and Careers Clinics have closed since May 2010;
	(3)  how many Army Careers Offices and Careers Clinics there are in each region.

Mark Francois: As part of the Recruit Partnering Project (RPP) the Army, working with its partner Capita Business Services, is changing the way in which it recruits its personnel in the future. This will see the introduction of a number of more modern and convenient ways for potential recruits to make contact with the Army, including improved digital access, thereby offering a more flexible service. As a result the number of recruiting offices is being reduced.
	Over the years the Army has continually adjusted the number and location of recruiting offices across the UK to meet the business requirement and the changing demands of the recruiting environment. But we continue to recognise that high street offices play a key role in recruiting for the Army, particularly in providing face-to-face contact with Army personnel, helping to develop critical relationships between the Army and prospective candidates and embedding the Army in the fabric of society. Some 73 recruiting offices will be retained under the RPP and will be known as Army Career Centres. These centres will be situated to ensure that there is a centre within a reasonable travelling distance of over 90% of the target population. They will be manned by a combination of military and civilian staff.
	Details of the 83 Army Careers Offices and Career Clinics which have closed since May 2010, or are due to close under the RPP by 26 March 2013, by region are listed in the following table, together with the 73 Army Career Offices and Career Clinics that will remain open. There are currently no plans for any further closures.
	
		
			 Region Army Careers Office and Career Clinics that have closed since May 2010 or will close by 26 March 2013 Number of Army Careers Office and Career Clinics to remain in each region 
			 Scotland Dumfries Aberdeen 
			  Perth Dundee 
			  Dunfermline Edinburgh 
			  Kirkcaldy Glasgow 
			  Bathgate Inverness 
			  Galashiels  
			  Dumbarton  
			  Hamilton  
			  Irvine  
			  Paisley  
			  Stirling  
			  Wick  
			  Elgin  
			  Greenock  
			    
			 North West Crewe Carlisle 
			  Birkenhead Liverpool 
			  Workington Chester 
			  Kendal Manchester 
			  Burnley Stockport 
			  Bury Preston 
			  Wigan Bolton 
			  Blackburn Lancaster 
			  Blackpool  
			  Warrington  
			  Barrow-in-Furness  
			  Oldham  
			  Rochdale  
			  Kirkby  
			    
			 North East Barnsley Hull 
			  Scarborough York 
		
	
	
		
			  Bishop-Auckland Middlesbrough 
			  Huddersfield Newcastle 
			  Ashington Sunderland 
			  Halifax Leeds 
			  Durham Bradford 
			  Darlington Sheffield 
			  South Shields Doncaster 
			  Wakefield  
			  Catterick  
			    
			 Wales Pontypridd Cardiff 
			  Abergavenny Newport 
			  Carmarthen Swansea 
			  Haverford West Wrexham 
			  Rhyl Bangor 
			  Aberystwyth  
			  Bridgend  
			    
			 West Midlands Burton upon Trent Birmingham 
			  Telford Coventry 
			  Rugby Wolverhampton 
			  Kidderminster Shrewsbury 
			  Stafford Hereford Worcester Stoke 
			  Shrewsbury—Contact Point  
			    
			 East Corby Cambridge 
			  Southend Peterborough 
			  Boston Luton 
			  Chesterfield Leicester 
			  Watford Northampton 
			  Colchester Lincoln 
			  Scunthorpe Grimsby 
			   Chelmsford 
			   Nottingham 
			   Derby 
			   Mansfield 
			   Norwich 
			   Ipswich 
			    
			 South East Aylesbury Brighton 
			  Eastbourne Crawley 
			  Hastings Chatham 
			  Newport Isle of Wight Canterbury 
			  Basingstoke Portsmouth 
			  Tunbridge Aldershot 
			  Dover Southampton 
			  Chichester Reading 
			  Woking Oxford 
			  Maidstone Slough 
			  Ashford Milton Keynes 
			    
			 Wessex Dorchester Bournemouth 
			  Weymouth Salisbury 
		
	
	
		
			  Torquay Bristol 
			  Bath Exeter 
			  Bodmin Taunton 
			  Barnstaple Gloucester 
			   Swindon 
			   Plymouth 
			   Redruth 
			    
			 Northern Ireland  Belfast 
			   Enniskillen 
			   Coleraine 
			   Portadown 
			    
			 London Bromley London—Handle Street 
			  Croydon London—Rochester Row 
			  Ilford  
			  Wembley  
			  Herford (located in Germany)  
			  Dalston  
			  Hounslow  
		
	
	Of those Army Careers Offices and Careers Clinics which have closed since May 2010, 13 were closed prior to the award of the RPP contract in March 2012.

AWE Aldermaston

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  on what dates (a) his Department, (b) the Office for Nuclear Regulation and (c) the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator were notified by Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston about problems with the structural condition of building A45 at Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston;
	(2)  how many buildings at Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston are affected by degradation of steelwork in building structures; in which building production operations have been halted; what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the delivery of the Astute class submarine programme; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what his target date is for completion of work to remedy structural problems identified in steelwork in buildings at Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston; what is the expected cost of remedying those problems; whether the costs of this work will be paid out of the budgeted costs of the management and operation contract for the Atomic Weapons Establishment between his Department and AWE Management Ltd or by other means; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: An inspection conducted on 21 August 2012, as part of the regular maintenance process, found signs of corrosion in a steel column in the uranium handling facility located on the Atomic Weapons Establishment's (AWE) Aldermaston site. Routine operations were suspended as a precaution.
	AWE informed the Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR) on 23 August 2012 and the Ministry of Defence on 30 August 2012. The Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator was subsequently informed by ONR in accordance with extant regulatory arrangements. The ONR issued an Improvement Notice on this facility on 7 November 2012.
	An enhanced site-wide survey has revealed some corrosion at two other buildings of similar construction; however, these buildings do not undertake any nuclear operations. Production operations have been halted in the uranium handling facility only. There has been no impact on any of our submarine programmes.
	In conjunction with the ONR, work is ongoing to identify the optimum method of remediation, which will enable the ONR's target date for implementation of AWE's improvements by December 2013 to be met. It is too early to estimate the costs involved, or to say whether they will be met within the budgeted cost of the management and operation contract.

Defence: Procurement

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the contribution of the Niteworks organisation to improving defence acquisition; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: Niteworks is a Ministry of Defence (MOD) funded partnership with industry which provides evidence-based advice to inform capability planning and acquisition. It currently comprises 117 members drawn from across industry, including prime contractors and small to medium-sized enterprises. The current Niteworks contract ends in March 2013 and a business case to extend this arrangement for a further five years is currently being considered, through an internal MOD approvals process. The contribution of the Niteworks organisation, in terms of operational and business benefits to the MOD, has been taken into account within the business case.

European Fighter Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the progress of the Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile integration project onto Typhoon aircraft.

Philip Dunne: Integration work continues with the successful firing of a Meteor missile from a Typhoon in December 2012.

HMS Victory

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department will only grant permission to raise artefacts from the wreck of HMS Victory if the applicant is compliant with the archaeological principles set out in Annex A to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage.

Mark Francois: In considering any request to raise artefacts from the site of HMS Victory which sank in 1744, the Ministry of Defence will ensure that the proposals are consistent with the Annex to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage.

Major Projects Review Board

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  who the members of the Major Projects Review Board are;
	(2)  how regularly the Major Projects Review Board reports;
	(3)  which projects the Major Projects Review Board is considering.

Philip Dunne: The Major Projects Review Board meets quarterly and its members are:
	Secretary of State for Defence (Chair)
	Minister Defence Equipment, Support and Technology
	Ministry of Defence Director General Finance
	Chief of Defence Materiel
	Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Military Capability)
	With regards to which projects the Board considers and how it reports, I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Mr Murphy) on 17 December 2012, Official Report, columns 615-16W.

Military Bases: Ripon

Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the living conditions at Claro Barracks in Ripon; and what investment is planned at that site.

Mark Francois: It is recognised that not all living accommodation at Claro Barracks Ripon is of the highest standard that service personnel deserve. There are 601 single living accommodation (SLA) bed-spaces at the site, of which 448 are at the lowest standard of four, for condition and scale. £200,000 has been spent on delivering new fitted furniture to one of the SLA blocks over the past two years and there are plans to invest a further £200,000 in the next financial year.
	In contrast, all 277 service family accommodation properties at Claro Barracks are at the highest two standards for condition, 154 at Grade 1 and 123 at Grade 2.

Military Police: Early Retirement

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Ministry of Defence Police working in each US base on UK soil have applied for the Voluntary Early Retirement Scheme.

Mark Francois: The information requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Station Number of VERS applicants 
			 Alconbury 2 
			 Lakenheath/Mildenhall 1 
			 Fairford 6 
			 Menwith Hill 18

Navy

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the Order of Battle is of the fleet.

Andrew Robathan: The Royal Navy Order of Battle includes all Royal Navy assets in the fleet programme, regardless of their readiness level.
	As at 23 January 2013, the Order of Battle for the Fleet is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 Landing Platform Helicopter (1)2 
			 Landing Platform Dock 2 
			 T45 Destroyer 4 
			 T42 Destroyer 1 
			 T23 Frigate 13 
			 Hunt Class MCV 8 
			 Sandown Class MCV 7 
			 Offshore Patrol Vessel—River Class 3 
			 Offshore Patrol Vessel (Helicopter) 1 
			 Inshore Patrol Boats 18 
			 Ocean Survey Vessels 1 
			 Coastal Survey Vessels 2 
			 Inshore Survey Vessels 1 
			 Ice Patrol Ship 1 
			 Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear 4 
			   
			 Ship Submersible Nuclear  
			 Trafalgar Class 5 
			 Astute Class 1 
			   
			 Assault Helicopters—Sea King Mk 4 3 squadrons 
			 Search and Rescue—Sea King Mk 5 1 squadron 
			 Airborne Surveillance and Control—Sea King Mk 7 3 squadrons 
			   
			 Anti Submarine and Anti Surface  
			 Merlin Mk 1 4 squadrons 
			 Lynx Mk 3 and Mk 8 2 squadrons 
		
	
	
		
			   
			 Battlefield Helicopters—Lynx Mk 9 1 squadron 
			 Elementary Flying 3 squadrons 
			 Beechcraft King Air 350ER Avenger 1 squadron 
			 (1) HMS Illustrious is now operating in the Landing Platform Helicopter role. 
		
	
	For the Royal Fleet Auxiliary:
	
		
			  Number 
			 Fleet Tankers 2 
			 Support Tankers 1 
			 Small Fleet Tankers 2 
			 Fleet Replenishment Ships 3 
			 Landing Ship Dock 3 
			 Aviation Training Ship 1 
			 Forward Repair Ship 1

RAF Lossiemouth

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when 6 Squadron and 1 Fighter Squadron will move to RAF Lossiemouth.

Andrew Robathan: Planning is progressing to facilitate the phased relocation of the RAF Leuchars element of the Typhoon Force to RAF Lossiemouth starting from the end of 2013.

Royal Engineers

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the (a) size and (b) skills sets of units capable of building and repairing railways in the Corps of Royal Engineers.

Andrew Robathan: Within the Corps of Royal Engineers, the only unit specifically rolled to provide railway infrastructure expertise is 507 Specialist Team Royal Engineers (Volunteers) (Railways Infrastructure).
	This unit has a total of 34 Territorial Army posts covering the range of skills necessary for the design and construction of railways such as draftsmen, fitters, track layers and plant operator mechanics. This unit is supported, as necessary, by other Corps of Royal Engineer units or construction contractors, who would assist in the building or repair of railways should the need arise.

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of questions for written answer on a named day by his Department (a) received a substantive answer after the named day and (b) have not received a substantive answer in this Session;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of questions tabled for ordinary written answer by his Department (a) were answered after 30 days and (b) have not been answered in this Session.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) strives to answer all parliamentary questions on time, but it is often challenging to answer substantively within the limited timescales for named day questions. However, 79% of named day questions for answer between 9 May 2012 and 23 January 2013 were answered on or within five days of the day named. 82% of ordinary written questions were answered within 10 working days.
	From the total of 679 named day questions received during this parliamentary Session, 2012-2013, up to 23 January 2013, 471 (69%) were answered after the day named, with a further 18 (3%) still awaiting a substantive answer.
	From the total of 1,496 ordinary written questions received by the MOD, 36 (2%) were answered more than 30 days late and 59 (4%) have not yet been answered.
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the current Session. Statistics relating to performance for the 2010-12 parliamentary Session are available on the Parliament website at the following link:
	http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/procedure/P35_Memorandum_Leader_of_the_House_ Monitoring_ PQs.pdf

TRANSPORT

British Transport Police

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) full-time equivalent police officers, (b) full-time equivalent police community support officers and (c) other staff there were working for the British Transport Police in (i) total, (ii) each region and (iii) each constituent part of the UK in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13 to date; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: The information requested is set out in the following tables:
	
		
			 Staff numbers—British Transport police 
			 2012-13 (at 23 January 2013) 
			  Police officers Police staff PCSOs Special constables 
			 Force Headquarters 356 777 0 4 
			 London North 438 102 99 34 
			 London South 399 92 43 42 
			 London Underground/DLR 673 211 104 47 
			 North Eastern 271 74 16 33 
			 North Western 258 63 28 21 
			 Scotland 219 51 0 17 
		
	
	
		
			 Wales and Western 252 70 63 30 
			 Total 2,866 1,440 353 228 
		
	
	
		
			 2011-12 (at 31 March 2012) 
			  Police officers Police staff PCSOs Special constables 
			 Force Headquarters 333 758 0 4 
			 London North 454 96 103 38 
			 London South 404 87 51 58 
			 London Underground/DLR 675 212 74 60 
			 North Eastern 272 72 20 32 
			 North Western 256 64 32 24 
			 Scotland 218 45 0 13 
			 Wales and Western 253 68 48 22 
			 Total 2,865 1,402 328 251 
		
	
	
		
			 2010-11 (at 31 March 2011) 
			  Police officers Police staff PCSOs Special constables 
			 Force Headquarters 355 779 0 2 
			 London North 456 104 106 29 
			 London South 413 93 48 64 
			 London Underground/DLR 667 204 47 70 
			 North Eastern 253 70 21 26 
			 North Western 262 53 36 10 
			 Scotland 208 35 0 6 
			 Wales and Western 252 67 40 26 
			 Total 2,866 1,405 298 233

Driving: Licensing

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of drivers in the UK currently hold Group 2 driving licences.

Stephen Hammond: On 18 January 2013 there were 44,807,737 driver records in Great Britain. The total number of drivers holding a group 2 (bus and/or lorry) driving licence is 1,380,796. Of these, 1,126,652 hold full entitlement and 254,144 hold provisional entitlement. The overall proportion of drivers in the UK holding a group 2 driving licence is 3.1%.
	Information from Northern Ireland has not been included in this answer as driver licensing is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland.

Driving: Licensing

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 13 December 2012, Official Report, column 409W, on driver licensing, what information is kept on the age of the drivers whose licences were revoked for failing to meet the eyesight standards.

Stephen Hammond: The following table provides the age-ranges of drivers who had their driving licence refused or revoked because they could not meet the eyesight standards. This table reflects the age of the driver at the time of the refusal or revocation.
	
		
			 Drivers refused and revoked for failing to meet eyesight standards 
			 Age 2010 2011 
			 17-19 139 194 
			 20-29 483 407 
			 30-39 343 378 
			 40-49 469 522 
			 50-59 552 610 
			 60-69 624 667 
			 70-79 1,335 1,582 
			 80-89 1,266 1,336 
			 90-99 188 219 
			 100 and over 0 1 
			 Total 5,399 5,916

Driving: Licensing

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 13 December 2012, Official Report, column 409W, on driver licensing, what proportion of overall licences held were revoked or refused because the applicant failed to meet the eyesight standards for (a) Group 1 licences and (b) Group 2 licences.

Stephen Hammond: The following table provides statistical information on the overall numbers and proportion of driving licences held in Great Britain that were revoked or the application refused because the applicant failed to meet the eyesight standards for group 1 and 2 licences.
	
		
			   Group 1 revoked or refused Group 2 revoked or refused 
			  Total number of driver records in GB Number Percentage Number Percentage 
			 2010 44,547,489 4,906 0.011 493 0.001 
			 2011 45,127,884 5,258 0.012 658 0.001

Driving: Licensing

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 13 December 2012, Official Report, column 409W, on driver licensing, how many of the car and motorcycle licences revoked or refused because the applicant failed to meet the eyesight standards were (a) self-reported by the driver, (b) referred by a medical practitioner and (c) refused at the initial practical driving test stage.

Stephen Hammond: Information on how many revocations or refusals were as a result of a driver self reporting or referrals from medical practitioners is not held. In 2010, 501 licences were refused at the initial practical driving test stage. In 2011, the figure was 635.

Great Western Railway Line

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he expects the first electric services on the Great Western Main Line to start running in December 2016.

Simon Burns: I expect the first electric passenger services on the Great Western to start running in 2016.

Great Western Railway Line

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of whether his Department's proposed changes to the scope of the Great Western Main Line electrification project will affect the timetable for completion of that project.

Simon Burns: In July 2012, the Government announced major capacity improvements at Bristol and Oxford plus electrification of the Spine, Valley Lines and between Cardiff and Swansea. I have asked Network Rail to ensure that these additional improvements are delivered alongside or build upon Great Western electrification which I expect to be completed on target between 2016 and 2018.

Great Western Railway Line

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the project to electrify the Great Western Main Line is on schedule; and when he expects the project to be completed.

Simon Burns: Electrification of the Great Western Main Line is on target. The programme will be complete when electric trains start running between Cardiff and Swansea which I have targeted for 2018.

Great Western Railway Line

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of whether the early design and development stages of the Great Western Main Line electrification project will be delivered on time; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: In July 2012 the Government announced additional electrification between Cardiff and Swansea, of the Valley Lines and of the Electric Spine plus major capacity improvements at Bristol and Oxford. I expect Network Rail to achieve the next design milestone in April 2013.

London Airports: Snow and Ice

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with his ministerial colleagues on how best to ensure that London airports do all they can to avoid pre-emptively cancelling flights during periods of severe inclement weather.

Simon Burns: Development of airports' winter weather resilience plans is a matter for airport operators in collaboration with airlines and other partners. At Heathrow airport, which operates throughout the year at almost full capacity, cancelling a proportion of a daily flight schedule in advance of forecast severe winter weather allows resilience for necessary snow and ice clearance from runways and taxiways, and for increased take-off and landing separation in poor visibility. The decision to reduce a flight schedule is reached jointly only after analysis of weather forecasts by the airport operator, air traffic control, Heathrow's Airline Operators Committee, airlines, and the independent airport slot co-ordinator. The airport considers that it is a better option to cancel a proportion of flights in advance so that normal operations can resume quickly the following day, than risk short-term flight cancellations which cause more annoyance and inconvenience for air passengers.

Metals: Theft

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding his Department will provide for the British Transport Police metal theft task force in 2013.

Norman Baker: The Department has provided £5 million for the National Metal Theft Task Force for the year 2012/13. Discussions are under way with the Home Office about a request from the British Transport Police for additional funding for 2013/14, but no decisions have yet been taken.

Metropolitan Police

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding his Department allocated to the Metropolitan police in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13; how much he plans to allocate in future years; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: My Department has not made any payments to the Metropolitan police in any of the years in question.

Railways: Franchises

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to the Brown Review of Rail Franchising, what work is being undertaken to extend the use of management contracts; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: In light of Mr Brown's review, the Department is reviewing the whole future franchising programme, which we are committed to restarting as soon as possible.
	The forward programme we announce in the spring will be ambitious but based on a rigorous and realistic assessment of what is achievable, and of what the appropriate commercial arrangements might be for individual franchises.

Railways: South West

Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will bring forward proposals to improve the railways in the South West for the purposes of preventing severe flooding from affecting rail connections between the region and the rest of the UK.

Norman Baker: Earlier this month I wrote to Network Rail to emphasise the importance of the resilience of the network, including in the South West.
	The strategic business plans published by Network Rail and the rail industry for the period 2014-19 include plans for investment which will improve the resilience of the railway infrastructure, including measures to improve flood mitigation. The plans include significant extra spend on areas of known weakness but are strategic plans and are still being developed. These plans are now subject to review by the Office of Rail Regulation, which will determine the appropriate level of funding and delivery obligations for Network Rail over that period.

Senior Civil Servants

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and what proportion of officials of the three most senior grades in his Department have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement, (c) left the Department for alternative employment, (d) been dismissed, (e) taken long-term sick leave and (f) taken administrative leave since May 2010.

Norman Baker: The number and proportion of staff in the three most senior grades in the Department for Transport who have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement, (c) left the Department for alternative employment, (d) been dismissed, (e) taken long-term sick leave and (f) taken administrative leave since May 2010 is shown in the table below:
	
		
			  Total Proportion 
			 Resigned 1 2.7% 
			 Voluntary Early Retirement 5 13.5% 
			 Alternative Employment 6 16.2% 
		
	
	
		
			 Dismissed 0 0.0% 
			 Long Term Sick Leave 1 2.7% 
			 Administrative Leave 1 2.7%

Thameslink Railway Line

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to the Brown Review of Rail Franchising, whether the Thameslink route will be considered for a management contract arrangement; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: Mr Brown's review recommends that the Government should determine, by February, our plans for the three franchise competitions, including Thameslink, that were put on hold last October. We accept that recommendation, and the Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin), will update the House when we have determined those plans.

Thameslink Railway Line

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he last discussed the Thameslink rolling stock procurement with the European Commission.

Simon Burns: Officials keep the European Commission informed about this major rolling stock procurement, as they often do in relation to significant procurement projects.

Thameslink Railway Line

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reason the Thameslink rolling stock procurement process is being carried out under utilities regulations.

Simon Burns: I would refer to the paragraph entitled Procurement Directive, in Annex 2, Ev 26 of the Transport Committee's report on the Thameslink rolling stock procurement, published in December 2011.

WALES

Paralympic Games 2012

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with disability organisations in Wales on the legacy in Wales of the London 2012 Paralympics; and if he will make a statement.

David Jones: A Paralympic Legacy Advisory Group has been established, consisting of external representatives from leading disability charities, disabled people’s user-led organisations (DPLUOs), Paralympians, businesses and the media. It provides a forum through which to engage external organisations, seek their advice and ensure that disability opportunities are exploited and delivered across the whole of the legacy programme.
	Wales Office Ministers will continue to work with organisations in Wales and the Welsh Government to ensure that Wales is able to benefit from the legacy of the Games.

Plants

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department has spent on indoor and outdoor plants and trees since his appointment.

Stephen Crabb: Since September 2012, the Wales Office purchased two Christmas trees for its offices in London and Cardiff at a total cost of £142. There has been no further spend on plants or trees.

Recruitment

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department has spent on advertising job vacancies since May 2010.

Stephen Crabb: There has been no spending by the Wales Office on advertising job vacancies since May 2010.

Senior Civil Servants

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many and what proportion of officials of the three most senior grades in his Department have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement, (c) left the Department for alternative employment, (d) been dismissed, (e) taken long-term sick leave and (f) taken administrative leave since May 2010.

Stephen Crabb: The numbers requested in relation to each question are as follows:
	(a): 0
	(b): 0
	(c): 7
	(d): 0
	(e): 0
	(f): 0
	Of the seven staff who have left the Department for alternative employment, three were on loan to the Wales Office and returned to their home Departments; and two are on loan to other Government Departments but can return to the Wales Office at the loan end.

Training

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many away days his Department has held since 2010; and what the cost was of each such event.

Stephen Crabb: The Department has held no away days since 2010.

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of questions for written answer on a named day by his Department (a) received a substantive answer after the named day and (b) have not received a substantive answer in this Session;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of questions tabled for ordinary written answer by his Department (a) were answered after 30 days and (b) have not been answered in this Session.

Stephen Crabb: The information requested is shown in the following tables:
	
		
			  Named day PQs 
			 Total number received—10 May 2012 to 21 January 2013 32 
			   
			 (a) PQs that received a substantive answer after the named day 0 (0%) 
			 (b) PQs that have not received a substantive answer in this Session 0 (0%) 
		
	
	
		
			  Ordinary written PQs 
			 Total number received—10 May 2012 to 21 January 2013 210 
			   
			 (a) PQs answered after 30 days 0 (0%) 
			 (b) PQs not answered in this Session 0 (0%) 
		
	
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the Session. Statistics relating to Government Departments' performance for the 2010-12 parliamentary Session were previously provided to the committee and are available on the Parliament website.

SCOTLAND

Conditions of Employment

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of staff in his Department currently work (a) part-time, (b) in a job-share or (c) in another flexible working arrangement.

David Mundell: 12.5% of staff work either part-time or in another flexible working arrangement.

Retail Trade

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether recent job losses in the retail sector will be discussed in the Employability Forum to be held between the UK and Scottish Governments on 31 January 2013.

David Mundell: The Scottish Employability Forum will bring together a range of partners to discuss issues relating to unemployment. The retail sector will be represented at the forum.

Senior Civil Servants

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many and what proportion of officials of the three most senior grades in his Department have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement, (c) left the Department for alternative employment, (d) been dismissed, (e) taken long-term sick leave and (f) taken administrative leave since May 2010.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly; staff join the office on an assignment or secondment/loan agreement from other government bodies, mainly the Scottish Government and the Ministry of Justice. Since May 2010, three senior civil servants have left the Scotland Office, one through resignation and two who left the office to take up posts elsewhere within the civil service.

Work Programme

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the operation of the Work programme and opportunities for training will be discussed at the Employability Forum to be held between the UK and Scottish Governments on 31 January 2013.

David Mundell: The Scottish Employability Forum will bring together a range of partners to discuss issues relating to unemployment. The main Work programme contractors in Scotland will be represented at the forum.

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of questions for written answer on a named day by his Department (a) received a substantive answer after the named day and (b) have not received a substantive answer in this Session;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of questions tabled for ordinary written answer by his Department (a) were answered after 30 days and (b) have not been answered in this Session.

David Mundell: For the period 10 May 2012 to 21 January 2013, the Scotland Office received 70 named day parliamentary questions, nine of which (13%) received a substantive answer after the day named. All have been answered substantively in this Session.
	For the same period, my Department received 147 ordinary written questions. All were answered within 30 days.
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the Session. Statistics relating to Government Department's performance for the 2010-12 Parliamentary Session were previously provided to the Committee and are available on the Parliament website.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Building Alterations: Planning Permission

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department's proposed extension of permitted development rights will be limited to 50 per cent of a property's garden or 50 per cent of the total curtilage as stated in the original consultation.

Nicholas Boles: The technical consultation on extending permitted development rights for homeowners and businesses closed on 24 December 2012. We are now considering the responses before confirming the changes we will make.

Community Infrastructure Levy

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of community groups that will qualify to receive 25 per cent of community infrastructure levy receipts raised in their neighbourhood area by 31 March 2013;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of community groups that will qualify to receive 25 per cent of community infrastructure levy receipts raised in their neighbourhood area by 31 December 2013;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the number of community groups qualified to receive 25 per cent of community infrastructure levy receipts raised in their neighbourhood area as at 14 January 2013.

Nicholas Boles: The amount of Community Infrastructure Levy that will pass to community groups that have adopted a neighbourhood development plan, and will therefore qualify for 25% of the levy receipts, will depend on (a) take up of the Community Infrastructure Levy and (b) areas where a neighbourhood development plan has been through referendum and brought into force.
	Parish or town councils will receive this money directly. In communities without a parish or town council the local planning authority will retain it and spend it in accordance with the wishes of the community. Guidance will be published when the regulations come into force.

Community Infrastructure Levy

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate his Department has made of the number of affordable homes that will be built as a result of the policy to give 25 per cent of community infrastructure levy receipts to community groups in the neighbourhood area in which the receipts were raised.

Nicholas Boles: The Community Infrastructure Levy does not fund affordable housing but by giving communities a proportion of levy receipts we expect to communities to accept more house-building by giving them a tangible share of the benefits it brings. A proportion of those houses will be affordable, depending on local policies.

Council Tax

Nick Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will publish a table setting out the distribution between council tax bands A to H of (a) existing housing stock and (b) new additions to the housing stock in 2011-12 that were used to determine new homes bonus allocations in (i) England and (ii) each housing authority and the proportion of the total accounted for by each council tax band. [R]

Mark Prisk: holding answer 20 December 2012
	Council tax base data for the number of dwellings in each council tax band for each local authority area in England, in October 2012 and October 2011, have been published at the following locations:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/14811/Web_2012_Council_Tax_Base_Nov_2012.pdf
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/6692/203045312.xls
	Net additions are calculated by subtracting effective stock (total stock less long-term empty homes), as recorded on the council tax base form in the later year from the earlier year. The net additions, as calculated for this year's provisional calculations, are published on the Department's website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/36865/121212_Provisionals_-_version_for_gov_uk_site.xls
	For these provisional allocations, there are 29 authorities where we have asked for clarification of empty homes data provided, and have not included an empty homes component in their provisional allocations. We will take account of those authorities' responses when determining final allocations, and at that stage all authorities will receive an allocation that includes any empty homes element due to them.
	I have placed in the Library of the House a table showing, for each local authority in England, the numbers and proportions of net changes in effective stock by council tax band.
	I would draw the right hon. Member's attention to the answer to him of 27 February 2012, Official Report, column 36W. As Ministers explained then, council tax bandings are overseen by an independent executive agency which does not receive the New Homes Bonus. Their banding methodology has not changed, and new additions are only added if there is a substantive material change and a genuine new dwelling created.
	The lion's share of new homes being created and rewarded by the New Homes Bonus are in council tax Bands C and B, followed by Band D and then by Band A.
	Compared to the existing profile of the housing stock in England, more of the new homes are in Band B and C. If the right hon. Member's reclassification theory was actually correct, then there would be a disproportionate growth in Band A properties, but the reverse is the case.
	
		
			 Percentage 
			 Council tax band Breakdown of net change in stock October 2011 to October 2012 Profile of existing dwelling stock 
			 A 17 25 
			 B 23 20 
			 C 25 22 
			 D 17 15 
			 E 9 9 
			 F 5 5 
			 G 3 4 
			 H 1 1 
			 Source: Existing dwellings data from Valuation Office Agency Council Tax Valuation List Summary for September 2012 and Council Tax Base information October 2012 
		
	
	The New Homes Bonus is supporting affordable housing, as evident from two-thirds of the new dwellings being in Bands A to C and, overall, the new housing is in line with the general profile of England's housing stock.

Housing: Construction

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which recent representations he has received on the potential harmful effects to self-build developments as a result of the community infrastructure levy and the affordable housing levy.

Nicholas Boles: We recognise that self-build operates on a different basis to volume house builders. We are currently reviewing whether additional steps should be taken to ensure the self-build industry is not adversely affected by the Community Infrastructure Levy.
	In relation to section 106 planning obligations, there are a series of measures we have introduced or are introducing to ensure that such obligations do not make otherwise acceptable development economically unviable.

Housing: Construction

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of housing developments which are no longer going ahead following the introduction of the community infrastructure levy and the affordable housing levy; and how many such developments were planned for greenfield sites.

Nicholas Boles: The Department does not collect this information although our policies are designed to support development. The Community Infrastructure Levy is optional and when local planning authorities choose to adopt the Levy they must determine the appropriate rate or rates. This is a local decision based on evidence of economic viability and infrastructure need. Affordable housing requirements, provided through Section 106 agreements, are locally negotiated. We are introducing provision, in the Growth and Infrastructure Bill to allow developers to review affordable housing requirements to ensure they are viable in current market conditions. The effective provision of infrastructure to mitigate the impacts of development is essential if we are to support sustainable growth.

Housing: Construction

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which (a) builders, (b) self builders, (c) architects, (d) surveyors and (e) estate agents' organisations were consulted by his Department over the production of the economic impact assessments for the (i) affordable housing levy and (ii) community infrastructure levy.

Nicholas Boles: We consider impacts throughout the policy making process and make full use of available evidence to identify impacts on particular groups and sectors. We do not formally consult on impact assessments as a matter of course, although any comments made when they are published are taken into account when they are revised.
	I would observe that the Community Infrastructure Levy was introduced under the last Administration, with enabling legislation through the Planning Act 2008. Initial impact assessments were published to accompany the Bill.
	A consultation paper on draft regulations and a partial impact assessment was published in July 2009. A final impact assessment and a summary of responses to the consultation were published in February 2010, and the regulations came into effect in April 2010. More information can be found on the National Archives website.
	This Government updated the impact assessment in January 2011 to accompany the decentralising reforms in the Localism Bill, and again in October 2011, to accompany a consultation paper on further reforms to the Community Infrastructure Levy regulations.
	We have published separate impact assessments on a consultation on revising pre- April 2010 Section 106 agreements and on the Growth and Infrastructure Bill's proposals on renegotiating economically unviable Section 106 agreements.

Housing: Greater London

Nick Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much each London borough spent on housing capital in each year between 2005-06 and 2011-12; and how much was spent through (a) each local authority, (b) registered social landlords and (c) other providers.

Mark Prisk: A table has been placed in the Library of the House which shows capital expenditure on housing by each local authority in London from 2005-06 to 2011-12. It is not possible to say how much of this relates to registered social landlords or other providers.
	These figures exclude spending by the Greater London Authority. I observe that the Mayor's proposed strategy states:
	“£1.8 billion of public funding has been secured by the Mayor which will unlock an estimated additional £3.7 billion of other investment for London to enable 55,000 affordable homes to be delivered between 2011 -15.”
	(Mayor of London, ‘The Revised London Housing Strategy', December 2011, p.35).

Listed Buildings

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment his Department has made of success in removing red tape and bureaucracy for owners of listed heritage buildings. [R]

Nicholas Boles: There are provisions in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, which is currently before Parliament, which will simplify the listed building consent regime. The planning theme of the Government's red tape challenge, which is expected to go live shortly, will include heritage secondary legislation. In addition, the planning guidance review undertaken by Lord Taylor of Goss Moor recommended a rationalisation of existing heritage related guidance. Public consultation on those recommendations ends on 15 February 2013.

Local Government Finance

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 13 December 2012, Official Report, column 443W, on local government finance, what impact assessment has been undertaken by his Department and HM Treasury on a further two per cent reduction in centrally-funded expenditure on local government from 2014.

Brandon Lewis: Every bit of the public sector need do to their bit to tackle the deficit left by the last Administration; this includes local government which accounts for a quarter of all public spending. The settlement is a fair one—fair to north and south, fair to rural and urban areas and fair to shires and metropolitan areas.
	It is for individual local authorities to determine their budgets, however, we have been clear that councils should be making sensible savings, to protect frontline service and keep council tax down.
	An equality statement was published alongside December's provisional Local Government Finance Settlement; I have placed a copy in the Library of the House.

Local Government Finance

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many meetings each Minister in his Department has had with local authority leaders to discuss the Local Government Finance Settlement 2013-14; what the date of each meeting was; and who attended on each occasion.

Brandon Lewis: Details of Ministers' meetings with external organisations are routinely published on my Department's website.

Local Government Finance: Sefton

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what balances and reserves of each category have been registered with his Department by Sefton Council in the last three years for which data are available.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 18 January 2013
	The following table shows the level of local authority financial reserves held at the start of each financial year (as at 1 April) and end of each financial year (as at 31 March) for Sefton local authority.
	
		
			  2009-10 2010-11 201-12 
			  Start year (1 April 2009) End year (31 March 2010) Start year (1 April 2010) End year (31 March 2011) Start year (1 April 2011) End year (31 March 2012) 
			 Schools Reserves Level 15,198,000 18,549,000 11,791,000 14,461,000 14,591,000 11,976,000 
		
	
	
		
			 Other Earmarked Reserves 45,628,000 41,497,000 32,838,000 39,523,000 31,470,000 43,531,000 
			 Unallocated Reserves 3,687,000 3,711,000 3,661,000 3,686,000 3,140,000 3,476,000 
			 Total Non-Schools Reserves 49,315,000 45,208,000 36,499,000 43,209,000 34,610,000 47,007,000 
		
	
	The figures (requested in £ thousand) are from Revenue Outturn forms submitted to DCLG by local authorities each year.

Pay

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many employees of his Department are not paid the living wage; and how many full-time equivalent posts this represents.

Brandon Lewis: My Department has no employees paid less than the relevant living wage either in London or outside London.

Planning

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the total number is of designated neighbourhood areas.

Nicholas Boles: This information is not collected centrally. However, our informal monitoring of local planning authority websites tells us that as of 23 January there are at least 169 areas designated by 53 local authorities. These figures are increasing as more communities take up the opportunity to use the new powers in the Localism Act.

Planning Obligations

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the speech made by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Planning to Policy Exchange on 10 January 2013, what estimate he has made of the proportion of the 246,000 units with planning permission on sites where no building had started are delayed as a result of unaffordable section 106 agreements.

Nicholas Boles: We do not hold such estimates.
	Notwithstanding, as outlined to the right hon. Member in the answer to him of 17 October 2012, Official Report, column 304W, we do hold estimates (from Glenigan) on the number of housing units stalled due to sites being commercially unviable.

Planning Permission

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people have made Freedom of Information requests to see the responses to the draft National Planning Policy Framework Consultation to date.

Nicholas Boles: To date, we have received four freedom of information requests to see the responses to the draft National Planning Policy Framework Consultation.
	A summary of the responses is available at:
	www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/11792/2172233.pdf

Planning Permission

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many of the respondents to the draft National Planning Policy Framework Consultation asked not to be named.

Nicholas Boles: We do not hold a central database setting out those people who asked for their details to be kept confidential. We deal with requests for consultation responses on a case-by-case basis. The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Planning Permission

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to page 1 of the Summary of Responses to the draft National Planning Policy Framework Consultation, 
	(1)  how many respondents expressed support for significant simplification and consolidation of planning policy;
	(2)  how many respondents called for stronger and more positive text on the role planning could play in unlocking investment and promoting economic growth.

Nicholas Boles: The Summary of Responses to the draft National Planning Policy Framework Consultation is structured around the questions asked in the consultation document and the additional question on traveller site policy. Many respondents made more general points such as expressing support for significant simplification and consolidation of planning policy. These were given full consideration but we did not collate the statistics on these points. The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Planning Permission: Appeals

Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance is available for communities to provide them with assistance with the planning appeals process.

Nicholas Boles: There is detailed guidance available to assist communities with the planning appeal process on the Planning Portal website. The guidance is prepared by the Planning Inspectorate which handles planning appeals in England and Wales, and includes advice on both how to make an appeal, and advice for those that wish to comment on an appeal made by others.
	On 21 December 2012 the Government welcomed the report of the review of planning practice guidance led by Lord Taylor of Goss Moor, which made recommendations as to the scope and form of practice guidance that should be provided in future by Government to support effective planning, including planning appeals. The Government has launched a consultation to seek views on the recommendations of the review group, which runs until 15 February 2013. The Government will take these responses into account, as it considers how to respond to the recommendations.
	The Government also recently consulted on a set of proposals to make the planning appeals process faster and more transparent, and improve consistency and certainty in decision-taking timescales. The consultation, which ended on 13 December 2012, included a question on whether respondents agree with the proposal to issue a single, streamlined, clear procedural note on appeals. The consultation clarified that this work will be aligned with the review led by Lord Taylor.

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of questions for written answer on a named day by his Department (a) received a substantive answer after the named day and (b) have not received a substantive answer in this Session.

Brandon Lewis: 114 (27%) of the 429 named day questions tabled to the Department between the start of the current Session and 31 December 2012 were initially answered with a holding reply. Seven (1.6%) of these have not yet had a substantive answer.
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the Session. Statistics relating to Government Department's performance for the 2010-12 Parliamentary Session are available on the Parliament website at:
	http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/procedure/P35_Memorandum_Leader_of_the_House_ Monitoring_PQs.pdf

NORTHERN IRELAND

Senior Civil Servants

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what proportion of officials of the three most senior grades in her Department have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement, (c) left the Department for alternative employment, (d) been dismissed, (e) taken long-term sick leave and (f) taken administrative leave since May 2010.

Michael Penning: Since May 2010, no official in the three most senior grades in my Department left under any of the circumstances specified in this question.

Tobacco: Smuggling

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions her Department has had with the Irish government on the issue of tobacco smuggling between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Theresa Villiers: I meet regularly with the Irish Government to discuss a wide range of issues. Matters relating to revenue and customs fall primarily to HMRC, which works closely with the Department of Justice for Northern Ireland and their counterparts in the Republic of Ireland. My hon. Friend the Economic Secretary is the Minister responsible for the Government's response to excise fraud matters.

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of questions for written answer on a named day by her Department (a) received a substantive answer after the named day and (b) have not received a substantive answer in this Session;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of questions tabled for ordinary written answer by her Department (a) were answered after 30 days and (b) have not been answered in this Session.

Michael Penning: For the period 10 May 2012 to 21 January 2013, the Northern Ireland Office received 77 named day parliamentary questions, of which four (5%) received a substantive answer after the day named. All have been answered substantively in this session.
	For the same period, my Department received 163 ordinary written questions. All were answered within 30 days.
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the session. Statistics relating to Government Department's performance for the 2010-12 parliamentary session were previously provided to the Committee and are available on the Parliament website.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Beef: Horse Meat

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what checks are undertaken at point of entry for meat imports into the UK; who performs such checks; whether such checks have taken place over the last five years; and at which stage contamination occurred by which horse meat and traces of pig meat have been found in beef burgers and other meat products.

David Heath: Meat imports coming to the UK from outside the EU must enter at designated border inspection posts, where they are subject to veterinary checks by local and port health authority staff to ensure import conditions have been met. All consignments are subject to documentary and identity checks and a prescribed percentage of consignments are subject to physical checks. These checks have applied for longer than the last five years.
	Meat and other products of animal origin produced in the EU (like the beef burgers under investigation in Ireland) are traded freely within the EU and the responsibility for animal and public health and food hygiene lies with the exporting member state. Checks may be carried out at the border if there are grounds to suspect the consignment does not comply with the EU conditions. These arrangements have been in place for longer than five years.
	On 16 January, the Prime Minister asked the Food Standards Agency to urgently investigate how a number of beef products on sale in the UK and Republic of Ireland came to contain some traces of-horse and pig DNA. The FSA set out a four-point plan for this investigation, which is being implemented in conjunction with other Government Departments, local authorities and the food industry. The scope of the plan is set out in the FSA's web story on 16 January:
	http://www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/news/2013/jan/horse-update

Beef: Horse Meat

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when (a) his Department, (b) Ministers and (c) the Food Standards Agency first heard of the recent cases of contaminated meat and meat products.

Anna Soubry: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Health.
	The Food Standards Agency (FSA) was notified by Food Safety Authority Ireland on 14 January that they were proposing to publish a report on the analysis carried out into a number of meat products, including beef burgers, which revealed that some contained horse and pig DNA.
	On 15 January FSA notified the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) of these results. DEFRA Ministers were also informed on this date.
	FSA has launched an urgent investigation into this issue and are working closely with DEFRA on this. A four point plan has been published on the FSA website at:
	www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/news/2013/jan/horse-update

Beef: Horse Meat

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  when Ministers in his Department were informed that horse meat had been detected in burgers being sold in the UK;
	(2)  when the Food Standards Agency of Ireland informed his Department that horse meat had been found in burgers sold in the UK.

David Heath: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) was notified by the Food Safety Authority Ireland on 14 January that they were proposing to publish a report on the analysis carried out into a number of meat products, including beef burgers, which revealed that some contained horse and pig DNA.
	On 15 January the FSA notified DEFRA of these results. DEFRA Ministers were also informed on this date.
	The FSA has launched an urgent investigation into this issue and is working closely with DEFRA on this. A four point plan has been published on the FSA website at:
	www.food.gov.uk

Bees: Insecticides

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research he has commissioned into the risks posed to bee colonies in this country from the use of neonicotinoid insecticides.

Richard Benyon: We take this issue very seriously and have funded a range of work to address gaps in knowledge. We continue to fund a number of research projects on the potential impacts of pesticides on bees and other pollinators which will enable us to develop the way these risks are assessed and regulated. Most recently, projects have been commissioned to follow up academic studies on potential impacts on bumblebees. In addition DEFRA contributes to the Insect Pollinators Initiative, which supports research into the main threats to insect pollinators.

Campaign to Protect Rural England

Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what meetings Ministers in his Department have had with the Campaign to Protect Rural England and other environmental organisations to discuss the effect of Clause 8 of the Growth and Infrastructure Bill before the bill was published.

Richard Benyon: Following publication of the Growth and Infrastructure Bill, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has exchanged written correspondence with the Campaign to Protect Rural England.
	As part of ongoing discussions regarding implementation of the Bill, Ministers across Government have played an active role engaging with a range of environmental organisations, including the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

Dangerous Dogs

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to make an announcement on the issue of irresponsible dog ownership and dangerous dogs; and what issues will be included in the announcement.

David Heath: The Government will be making an announcement on a way forward on this issue, following proposals made in last year's consultation, shortly.

Dredging

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Environment Agency spent on dredging in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09, (c) 2009-10, (d) 2010-11 and (e) 2011-12; and how much he anticipates being spent in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Richard Benyon: It is estimated that dredging activities cost approximately £20 million each year. The Environment Agency does not specifically record the amounts spent on dredging per year because dredging work forms part of the wider budget for maintenance of watercourses.
	Watercourse maintenance work includes maintaining flood barriers and pumping stations; clearing grills and removing obstructions from rivers; controlling aquatic weed within rivers; dredging and de-silting of rivers; managing grass, trees and bushes on our flood embankments; inspection and repair of flood defence structures.

Environmental Stewardship Scheme

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the amount of land taken out of production by farmers entering entry level stewardship following the reduction in points allocated for hedgerows and the need for compensating points from other measures.

David Heath: Changes were made to a number of environmental stewardship options from 1 January this year as part of the Making Environmental Stewardship More Effective project. The project was set up in response to a number of high profile reports that concluded that the scheme was capable of delivering more and better environmental outcomes. It involved Natural England and stakeholders including the NFU, the Country Land & Business Association, the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers, the RSPB and the Tenant Farmers Association.
	Changes were made to a number of options and payment rates. Among those were changes to certain hedgerow options to improve the environmental benefit of good hedgerow management such as providing winter berries for birds.
	As the changes have only been available for agreements beginning from 1 January 2013 it is too early to gauge accurately their impact. However, 279 new environmental stewardship agreements started on 1 January, which included 814 km of hedgerow options.

Floods: Elmbridge

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2013, Official Report, column 83W, on flood control, what proportion of the additional £120 million of funding allocated for flood defences will be spent on protecting Elmbridge in each of the next three financial years.

Richard Benyon: Allocations for flood and coastal erosion risk management in 2013-14 have not yet been announced.

Food Composition and Labelling

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many officials in his Department are working on food composition and labelling policy.

David Heath: As at 22 January 2013, there are 12 officials within DEFRA's Food and Sustainable Economy Directorate whose duties are concerned exclusively with the policy areas referred to by the hon. Member, including three who deliver a food authenticity research programme that funds the development of methods to detect food mis-labelling and food fraud. Food composition and labelling policy also comprise part of the work load of the managerial team members of that directorate.
	In addition, a number of other posts in DEFRA’s Teams for Sustainable and Competitive Farming Strategy and for Crops and Horticulture Policy Delivery include, as part of their responsibilities, development of policy on standards and compositional requirements for dairy products, eggs, wine, olive oil and certain other commodities, as well as certain aspects of policy on food labelling.

Food: Labelling

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the annual budget allocated within his Department for food labelling was in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13.

David Heath: Food labelling is part of the annual budget allocated to food policy. The food policy budget is set out in the following table;
	
		
			 £ 
			  2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Admin 3,314,000 3,727,000 2,732,154 
			 Non-evidence (1)4,383,929 201,000 243,979 
			 Evidence (1)— 3,535,992 4,419,623 
			     
			 Total 7,697,929 7,463,992 7,395,756 
			 (1 )Indicates brace. 
		
	
	These figures exclude the Gangmasters Licensing Authority figures which are not comparable across the years.
	The Food Authenticity Programme budget is approximately £450,000 per year.

Horse Meat: Exports

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much horsemeat was exported in each of the last four years.

David Heath: The amount of meat and offal of horses, asses, mules and hinnies exported since 2008 from the UK is reported in the following table:
	
		
			 Volume (tonnes) 
			 Type 2008 2009 2010 2011 Jan-Nov 2012 
			 Meat of horses, asses, mules or hinnies 999 1,956 2,827 2,192 2,101 
			 Offal of horses, asses, mules or hinnies 61 73 72 72 62 
			 Source: HM Revenue and Customs

Horse Meat: Exports

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the value was of exported horsemeat in each of the last four years.

David Heath: The value of meat and offal of horses, asses, mules and hinnies exported from the UK since 2008 is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 Value (£000) 
			 Type 2008 2009 2010 2011 Jan-Nov 2012 
			 Meat of horses, asses, mules or hinnies 1,886 3,718 4,879 3,890 3,763 
			 Offal of horses, asses, mules or hinnies 33 38 49 37 34 
			 Source: HM Revenue and Customs

Land Drainage

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the non-eligibility of land drainage for capital allowances.

Richard Benyon: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), has regular meetings with the Chancellor to discuss a range of DEFRA interests including taxation, agriculture and flood risk management. No recent representations have been made on this topic.
	Until 2008, capital allowances for certain agricultural buildings and structures were available through the Agricultural Buildings Allowance (ABA), introduced in 1945 to rebuild agricultural capacities after the second world war.
	This allowance was phased out by the previous Government from 2008. There are currently no plans for its re-introduction.

Livestock: Transport

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to his contribution to the debate of 13 December 2012, Official Report, column 429, on Animal Welfare (exports) and the answer of 8 January 2013, Official Report, column 208W, on livestock: transport, what changes he has made to the operations manual to reflect a zero tolerance approach.

David Heath: Animal Health Veterinary Laboratory Agency (AHVLA) undertakes its inspections in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) 882/2004 on ‘official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with food and feed law, animal health and welfare’. Article 3 of this Regulation requires member states to ensure that official controls are carried out regularly, on a risk basis and with appropriate frequency. The AHVLA Operations Manual gives instruction to staff on how to apply the requirements of the regulation.
	The AHVLA Operations Manual contains a risk matrix for use in relation to inspections for live animal exports and the risk matrix has always allowed for increased incidence of inspections if the current risk is assessed as high. This risk matrix has not changed. However AHVLA have specified in instructions that:
	“Due to the increased profile of livestock departing Great Britain (GB) on the vessel mv Joline from Ramsgate Port, 100% of consignments of slaughter/production livestock sailing on the mv Joline must undergo a supervised loading inspection”.
	Information has also been added to the instructions regarding the export certification carried out an Official Veterinarian (OV). Animals which the OV has rejected at the point of certification must be located at the supervised loading inspection to ensure that they are not loaded onto the vehicle.

National Wildlife Crime Unit

Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what date he plans to decide on future funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit.

Richard Benyon: On 23 January I announced that DEFRA will provide funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit for a further year. The Home Office has announced that it too will provide funding for another year. This demonstrates our commitment to the Unit and our recognition of the important role it plays.
	This funding for another year will mean the Unit can continue to bring criminals to justice and tackle the illegal wildlife trade both at home and abroad.

Pate de Foie Gras: Imports

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he has any plans to ban the import of foie gras.

David Heath: Many people would like to see the importation and sale of foie gras in the UK banned but the free movement of goods is a well established principle in European Union law and is enshrined in the treaty on the functioning of the European Union (TFEU). While animal welfare concerns over the production of foie gras have been considered by the EU, trade in foie gras is not currently restricted under EU law. Consequently, a unilateral ban by the UK on the import or sale of foie gras would probably contravene the provisions of the TFEU. The UK would likely be referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union for this breach of EU law and would certainly face multiple damages claims from importers, exporters and other traders in foie gras.
	Ultimately, the most effective action that can be taken is for individuals not to buy foie gras if they feel strongly against the way in which it is produced.

Thames Tideway Tunnel

Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the benefits and costs to residents of Reading East constituency of the Thames Tideway Tunnel project; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: The cost-benefit analysis for the Thames tideway tunnel was published in November 2011 and it does not address individual parliamentary constituencies. Since water industry privatisation in 1989, it has been standard practice for the costs of capital investment by licensed undertakers to be spread across all their customers as the fairest way to apportion costs. The large number of customers of Thames Water's sewerage services in London has enabled the customer bill impact of investments in sewerage infrastructure outside London to be kept down to the benefit of customers outside London, particularly those in rural and smaller urban areas. This has helped to ensure that Thames Water sewerage bills are currently the cheapest in England. For example, Reading residents have benefitted from this approach as the £80 million new Reading sewage treatment works has been paid for by all Thames Water customers, including those in London who derive no benefit from it.

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what proportion of questions for written answer on a named day by his Department (a) received a substantive answer after the named day and (b) have not received a substantive answer in this Session.

Richard Benyon: 143 named day questions, due for answer during this Session on or before 18 January 2013, received a substantive answer after the named day. This represents 43% of the 332 questions asked in this period. In addition, four questions are yet to receive a substantive answer.
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the committee at the end of the session. Statistics relating to Government Departments' performance for the 2010 to 2012 parliamentary Session were previously provided to the committee and are available on the Parliament website.

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what proportion of questions tabled for ordinary written answer by his Department (a) were answered after 30 days and (b) have not been answered in this Session.

Richard Benyon: The Department's parliamentary question database cannot provide this information in the form requested. It can however provide the number of questions answered more than 10 working days late. Of 967 ordinary written questions due for answer before the Christmas recess, 100, or just over 10% of questions were answered more than 10 working days late.
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the session. Statistics relating to Government Departments' performance for the 2010-12 parliamentary session were previously provided to the Committee and are available on the Parliament website.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Leader of the House 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of questions for written answer on a named day by his Office (a) received a substantive answer after the named day and (b) have not received a substantive answer in this Session;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of questions tabled for ordinary written answer by his Office (a) were answered after 30 days and (b) have not been answered in this Session.

Andrew Lansley: My Department has answered all nine named day written parliamentary questions on the named day and all 11 ordinary questions within five days of being tabled. There are no questions for answer currently outstanding.
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a Sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the Session. Statistics relating to Government Department's performance for the 2010-12 parliamentary Session were previously provided to the committee and are available on the Parliament website.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Lobbying

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions he has had on lobbying with lobbying organisations in the last 12 months.

Chloe Smith: As part of this Government's transparency programme, details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on the Cabinet Office website at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/content/ministers-transparency-publications

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of questions for written answer on a named day by his Office (a) received a substantive answer after the named day and (b) have not received a substantive answer in this Session;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of questions tabled for ordinary written answer by his Office (a) were answered after 30 days and (b) have not been answered in this Session.

Nicholas Clegg: As at 31 December 2012, no questions for written answer tabled to my office during the current Session had not been answered.
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to Written Parliamentary Question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the current Session. Statistics relating to Government Department's performance for the 2010 to 2012 parliamentary Session were previously provided to the committee and are available on the Parliament website.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Business: Loans

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 16 October 2012, Official Report, column 245W, on business: loans, what estimate he has made of the number of small and medium-sized businesses in each region of the UK who have had (a) an overdraft and (b) a business loan application rejected by a bank in each quarter of each of the last two years; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The Government and banks do not collect nor disseminate lending data on a regional basis. The information the hon. Member seeks is collected as part of BDRC Continental's SME Finance Monitor, which is made publicly available at:
	http://www.sme-finance-monitor.co.uk
	The reports published quarterly do not contain a regional breakdown on account of the small sample sizes available—although 5,000 SMEs are surveyed each quarter, only a small minority of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) apply for finance in any one year, and as a result the numbers of SMEs applying in a given region during a given quarter are too small to infer statistically significant trends. However, BDRC Continental does publish annually a report with regional breakdowns over each year. The raw survey data can also be obtained free of charge via the UK Data Archive:
	http://data-archive.ac.uk/

Clothing: Fire Prevention

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of trading regulations relating to fire retardant clothing for children; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: The UK's Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985 provide the most stringent flammability requirements for children's nightwear in the EU (only Ireland has similar regulations). As part of the Red Tape Challenge, the Government looked at these regulations in 2012, along with other consumer product safety provisions. The Government decided that these regulations should be retained as a necessary safety measure protecting UK children.

Green Investment Bank

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 18 January 2013, Official Report, columns 989-90W, on investment, if any underspend of the £775 million allocated for green infrastructure investment in the period April 2012 to March 2013 will be allowed to be carried forward to the 2013-14 financial year.

Michael Fallon: The UK Green Investment Bank has full flexibility to carry forward capital underspends within this spending review period.

Metropolitan Police

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding his Department allocated to the Metropolitan police in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13; how much he plans to allocate in future years; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: The Department has not paid or allocated any funding to the Metropolitan police in any of the years mentioned above. Currently, departmental financial systems show that no allocations have been made for future years but any requests for funding or confirmed allocations would need to be considered in line with the Department's aims of stimulating economic growth, improving skills and innovation, boosting international trade, protecting the consumer and reducing red tape.

Science

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 11 December 2012, Official Report, column 400W, on science: finance, how much funding has been provided by his Department to (a) The Royal Society, (b) The British Academy, (c) The Royal Academy of Engineering, (d) The Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Network, (e) The British Science Association, (f) Engineering UK and (g) The UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology in 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has made payments to the organisations listed during 2012-13 (1 April to 31 December 2012) as follows:
	(a) The Royal Society: £32,462,975
	(b) The British Academy: £20,148,401
	(c) Royal Academy of Engineering, RAE: £5,819,838
	(d) STEMNET (The Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Network):£3,423,664
	(e) British Science Association (The British Association for the Advancement of Science): £971,419
	(f) Engineering UK: £0
	(g) UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology £0.

Shipping: Foreign Workers

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of non-UK seafarer ratings and officers employed on UK-registered vessels in 2011 were entitled to the national minimum wage.

Jo Swinson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 25 January 2013, Official Report, column 461W.

Training

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many away days his Department has held since 2010; and what the cost was of each such event.

Jo Swinson: We are able to provide details of away days from May 2010 to December 2012. Our response covers all team away days, including planning events which took place within our own premises. The total amount spent on 112 events during that period was £259,651.
	Training, planning and performance improvement are essential for the long-term success of the Department. A change of environment helps teams focus on the objectives of the day, to ensure successful business outcomes. Officials at all levels of the Department seek to ensure all such spending is value for money for the taxpayer.

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many and what proportion of questions for written answer on a named day by his Department (a) received a substantive answer after the named day and (b) have not received a substantive answer in this Session.

Jo Swinson: Up to the end of 22 January 2013:
	(a) 205 questions for written answer on a named day received a substantive answer after the named day. This is 27% of all questions for written answer on a named day for this session. Of the 205 questions, 47% received a substantive reply one sitting day after the date stipulated by the hon. Member and 85% within five sitting days.
	(b) None.
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a Sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the Session.
	Statistics relating to the Department's performance for the 2010-12 parliamentary Session were previously provided to the Committee and are available on the Parliament website.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Affordable Warmth Programme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the budget for the Affordable Warmth scheme is in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15.

Gregory Barker: The Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) Affordable Warmth target is not set in terms of expenditure, but in terms of reduction in notional lifetime heating costs. It is expected that the £4.2 billion Affordable Warmth target for March 2015 will generate investment in heating systems and insulation in low income and vulnerable households equivalent to around £350 million per year.

Affordable Warmth Programme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households his Department expect to receive assistance under the Affordable Warmth scheme in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15.

Gregory Barker: Exactly how many households receive support through Affordable Warmth will depend on the delivery models adopted by participating energy suppliers. If suppliers deliver what we anticipate to be most cost-effective packages of measures at a consistent rate, we estimate that around 130,000 low income and vulnerable households could be supported each year through Affordable Warmth.

Climate Change Convention

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which countries he expects to be (a) compliant and (b) non-compliant with the Kyoto Protocol.

Gregory Barker: At present, I have seen no indications that any party with obligations under the Kyoto Protocol will fail to comply with its obligations.
	I note that the United States, Canada, Afghanistan, Andorra, Holy See, and South Sudan are not parties to the Kyoto Protocol, as well as a number of Overseas Territories of the UK, Netherlands, and Denmark.

Electricity

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether his Department has given consideration to contingency plans in the event that (a) the assumption that there would be no short-term impact on investment following a major change of electricity market arrangements and (b) any other assumptions underpinning the scenarios modelled in its consultation on electricity market reform prove to be invalid.

John Hayes: I am confident that the Department's reforms will deliver the investment that the UK needs. Industry has expressed widespread confidence in our proposals, reflecting our thorough engagement with stakeholders throughout the policy development process. We have robust transitional arrangements in place to ensure investment continues throughout the shift to the EMR regime: the renewables obligation (RO) will remain open until 31 March 2017, and we are working with relevant developers to enable early investment decisions where appropriate.
	While no modelling can perfectly anticipate all factors, electricity market reform is a flexible toolkit—CfD strike prices will be set every five years, and the EMR delivery plan will be reviewed annually, giving Government the flexibility to react to changes in the market.
	The analysis and assumptions relating to electricity market reform have undergone extensive consultation, and I am therefore confident that they are credible and robust. Impact assessments were published for scrutiny in December 2010, July 2011, May 2012 and November 2012. We continually look at our data to make sure our data are robust and credible. Most recently, we published an updated impact assessment on electricity market reform on 14 January:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/66037/7468-contracts-for-difference-energy-bill-2012.pdf

Energy Companies Obligation

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many (a) households and (b) fuel poor households his Department expects to receive assistance under (i) the Energy Company Obligation and (ii) the Affordable Warmth Scheme in each of the next three years.

Gregory Barker: We estimate that around 1 million households will receive assistance under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) overall by March 2015, with around 230,000 low income households each year receiving assistance through the Affordable Warmth and Carbon Saving Communities Targets.
	Under the Affordable Warmth Target specifically, we estimate that around 130,000 low income and vulnerable households will receive assistance each year to March 2015.
	It is not possible to develop accurate estimates of the number of fuel poor households receiving assistance under the ECO overall, as specific households in fuel poverty change year on year. There is however a strong correlation between fuel poverty and low income, and we therefore expect many of the 230,000 low income households assisted each year through the ECO to be in fuel poverty.
	With respect to those receiving measures under Affordable Warmth, it was estimated in the Green Deal and ECO Final Impact Assessment, that in 2009—the latest year at the time for which data were available—around 53% of households eligible for Affordable Warmth assistance were in fuel poverty:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/42984/5533-final-stage-impact-assessment-for-the-green-deal-a.pdf (p.199)

Fuel Poverty

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to his contribution of 16 January 2013, Official Report, column 953, on fuel poverty and energy efficiency, what the evidential basis is for the statement that 75 per cent of consumers are on their supplier's standard variable tariff.

Gregory Barker: In March 2010, DECC published an article in its "Energy Trends" publication, detailing the number of customers on different tariff types. This article suggested that 72% of gas customers and 78% of electricity customers were on their supplier's standard variable rate tariff. An average of these was then taken to give an overall proportion of 75% of customers on their supplier's standard variable rate tariff. This article can be found in full here:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130109092117/http://decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/statistics/publications/trends/articles_issue/1_20100324125048_e_@@_variationtarifftypes.pdf
	In this article, a standard tariff was defined as:
	“The basic energy deal from a supplier if a customer does not sign up to any other specific tariff.”
	This definition means that standard variable rate tariffs are available to customers paying by all payment methods: direct debit, standard credit or pre-payment meter. However, fixed, online, social and green tariffs are excluded.
	As discussed in the article, DECC receives data from all of the major energy suppliers detailing the number of customers on each tariff. From this, we have attempted to identify tariff types based on the name of the tariff, along with the information available on these tariffs from the suppliers (including their websites). As mentioned, because not all features of a tariff may be identified by its name, these numbers should be treated as estimates.

Fuel Poverty

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to his contribution of 16 January 2013, Official Report, column 954, on fuel poverty and energy efficiency, what the evidential basis is for the statement that by 2020 the average household energy bill will be 7 per cent lower than if the Government were not pursuing its policies on energy and climate change.

Gregory Barker: In November 2011, DECC published an assessment of the average impact of energy and climate change policies on household energy bills, which is available online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/policy-impacts-on-prices-and-bills
	The headline message for the household sector was that household energy bills in 2020 were estimated to be, on average, around 7% lower than they would have been in the same year if energy and climate change policies were never introduced. This is because the effects of Government policies which help households to save energy will more than offset the necessary cost of investing in new capacity and greater efficiency. The actual impact of policies on an individual household's energy bill will depend on the type of household and whether or not they take up an energy efficiency or renewable energy measure, or receive a rebate through the Warm Home Discount.
	The report details the main assumptions and methodology used to carry out the analysis, Annex B details the policies which were used in the assessment and includes links to the relevant impact assessments which set out the evidence base which informed the policy costs and savings used, while section 4.4 details how the overall impact of policies is expected to vary across the household distribution.

Fuel Poverty

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of households in fuel poverty in (a) Pendle constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) the north-west.

Gregory Barker: In 2010, the most recent year for which data are available, the number of households estimated to be in fuel poverty was:
	8,900 in Pendle constituency;
	126,900 in Lancashire;
	601,000 in the north-west.

Fuels

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he plans to take to ensure that all motorists have a ready and secure supply of fuel.

John Hayes: The resilience of the road fuel retail market is extremely important, given the dependency of businesses and individuals on their vehicles to get around. Our priority is to ensure that risks to supply disruptions are minimised and that supplies remain as close to normal as possible. We do this through a range of measures including close engagement with the sector, and putting in place robust contingency measures for both Government and industry.
	DECC published a report from Deloitte LLP in December 2012, which considers long term changes to the retail market for road fuels in the UK, and the implications of these changes to our energy resilience. This market has changed significantly over the last decade, however considering Deloitte's findings in relation to access to petrol stations, and the capacity within the network, DECC remains of the view that this does not present significant evidence of reduced resilience as a result of petrol station closures.
	DECC plans to work with industry and the trade associations to discuss the findings from the report.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether Green Deal customers will be charged for making a complaint to the Green Deal ombudsman.

Gregory Barker: Customers will not be charged for making a complaint to the Green Deal ombudsman.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much money his Department has given to the Green Deal finance company; and for what purpose such funding has been used.

Gregory Barker: DECC has committed to lend The Green Deal Finance Company (TGDFC) up to £12 million, at a commercial rate of interest, not all of which has been drawn down. This loan is solely to cover the development phase of the company. It has been used to develop, procure and begin to mobilise operations; and to develop the capital structure and attract investment. This includes normal running costs, including staff, professional advice and rent.
	DECC's support to TGDFC has enabled a private sector solution enabling Green Deal providers to offer consumers, many of whom would not be able to find similar unsecured finance elsewhere, competitive finance for the Green Deal, thereby helping more homes to be more energy efficient.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many companies submitted tender applications for the Green Deal marketing contract; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the criteria by which applicants were judged.

Gregory Barker: 10 bidders submitted proposals for the Green Deal Consumer Engagement Public Relations Brief via the Government Procurement Service Framework Public Relations RM1712 Lot 1. Of these, three were selected to move to the next stage. The evaluation criteria used to assess each of the bids were contained in the Invitation to Tender (ITT). The criteria covered the following areas:
	Evidence of tackling similar challenges.
	Ability to demonstrate they have combined different sorts of activities in launch of a new service.
	Resources and personnel within organisation.
	Past experience and past ability to show that you could meet this requirement
	Experience and team working of pitch team.
	Understanding of the brief.
	Clarity and insight of approach.
	Quality of ideas.
	Demonstrating ability to deliver the required services.
	Costs.
	The weighting available against each criterion was made known in advance through the ITT. The contract including evaluation criteria will be made available on the Contracts Finder website.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions his Department has had with housing associations on the Green Deal.

Gregory Barker: The Department holds regular discussions with the National Housing Federation, who represent affordable housing providers in England, and with individual housing associations on all aspects of the Green Deal. We have also worked closely with a number of housing associations, including the Gentoo Group, to trial key elements of Green Deal in the social housing sector.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions his Department has had with the insulation industry on the Green Deal.

Gregory Barker: Departmental officials, ministerial colleagues and I meet regularly with representatives of the insulation industry. In addition, the Green Deal Oversight and Registration Body have established a Green Deal Installer Forum to help ensure the effective delivery of the Green Deal. Both departmental officials and representatives from the insulation industry are members of this group.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the £2.9 million allocated to the Green Deal marketing campaign has been spent on.

Gregory Barker: The £2.9 million campaign starts from 28 January 2013 and will build awareness and understanding of the Green Deal through public relations, press and digital advertising and media partnerships over the period to May 2013.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether complaints have been received by the Green Deal ombudsmen since October 2012.

Gregory Barker: No complaints have been received by the Green Deal ombudsman since October 2012.

Insulation

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many times he has met representatives of the Insulation Industry Forum in the last (a) six and (b) 12 months.

Gregory Barker: All meetings between external organisations and DECC Ministers are published on a quarterly basis on the DECC website and are available for download at this link:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/registers/registers.aspx

Natural Gas: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the proportion of unconventional gas resources in Wales that are economical to recover.

John Hayes: Exploration for shale gas is at a very early stage in the UK, and no estimate can yet be made of the size of any economic reserve which may exist.

Pembroke Power Station

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the environmental effects of the RWE Pembroke Power Station arising from (a) temperature increases and (b) biocides on biodiversity in the estuary on which the power station sits.

Gregory Barker: The environmental effects of the RWE Pembroke Power Station arising from (a) temperature increases and (b) biocides on biodiversity in the estuary on which the power station sits were assessed during the consenting process for that power station. The consenting process included both the consent granted by DECC under s.36 of the Electricity Act 1989 and the environmental permitting process carried out by the Environment Agency.

Pembroke Power Station

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had with RWE regarding formal notice of infringement for the RWE Pembroke Power Station issued by the European Commission.

Gregory Barker: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), has had no recent discussions with RWE regarding formal notice of infringement for the RWE Pembroke Power Station issued by the European Commission.

Pembroke Power Station

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has instructed his Department to carry out an investigation at the RWE Pembroke Power Station following the issuing of a formal notice of infringement by the European Commission.

Gregory Barker: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey) has not instructed his Department to carry out an investigation at the RWE Pembroke Power Station following the issuing of the formal notice of infringement by the European Commission.

Pembroke Power Station

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Government regarding formal notice of infringement from the European Commission for the RWE Pembroke Power Station.

Gregory Barker: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey) has had no recent discussions with the Welsh Government regarding formal notice of infringement from the European Commission for the RWE Pembroke Power Station although there is regular engagement at official level. The Welsh Government has contributed to the UK Government's formal response to the notice of infringement.

Pembroke Power Station

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he has taken since his Department received formal notice of infringement from the European Commission for the RWE Pembroke Power Station; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey) agreed the formal response to the notice of infringement from the European Commission for the RWE Pembroke Power Station. The response was sent to the Commission on 21 December 2012.

Research

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the amount spent on research contracts by his Department which were not subject to a tendering process in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change does not record the information centrally. Records show that, from April to December 2012, £31,000 was spent on two research contracts that were not subject to a tendering process. These records may not be a complete record of all research contracts let that were not subject to a tendering process.

Senior Civil Servants

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many and what proportion of officials of the three most senior grades in his Department have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement, (c) left the Department for alternative employment, (d) been dismissed, (e) taken long-term sick leave and (f) taken administrative leave since May 2010.

Gregory Barker: The information you have requested is shown in the following table.
	In the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) the three most senior grades are Permanent Secretary, SCS Pay Band 3 and SCS Pay Band 2.
	
		
			 Type Number of individuals Proportion of officials in the highest 3 grades (%) 
			 Resigned 1 4 
			 Voluntary early retirement 1 4 
			 Dismissed 0 0 
			 Taken long term sick leave 0 0 
		
	
	In order to determine the proportion of officials, we have used the number of staff in post as of 31 December 2012.
	We are not able to provide information on the number of staff leaving DECC to take up alternative employment as we do not hold information on where individuals go once they leave DECC.
	Long-term sick leave has been categorised as a period of sickness lasting 21 or more days.
	We are not able to provide information with regards to administrative leave as we do not recognise this term.

Training

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many away days his Department has held since 2010; and what the cost was of each such event.

Gregory Barker: The Department has held the following away days:
	32 events in 2010-11 at total cost of £63,000 (events costing between £200 and £7,000);
	25 events in 2011-12 at total cost of £28,000 (events costing between £200 and £5,000);
	17 events in 2012-13 at total cost of £15,000 (events costing between £200 and £5,000).

Warm Front Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department spent on publicity for the Warm Front scheme in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2010-11, (d) 2009-10, (e) 2008-09, (f) 2007-08, (g) 2006-07 and (h) 2005-06.

Gregory Barker: Marketing and publicity forms an integral part of the Department's contract with the Warm Front scheme manager, Carillion Energy Services (CES). It is therefore not possible to provide specific figures on expenditure purely associated with publicity for the scheme.
	During the scheme's operation, both the Department and CES regularly publicised it, either directly or working in partnership with stakeholders and wider delivery partners.

Warm Front Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the Warm Front scheme on the number of households in fuel poverty.

Gregory Barker: The Warm Front scheme has been a key policy in tackling fuel poverty among private sector households in England through the installation of a range of heating, insulation and other energy efficiency measures. The Scheme was introduced in 2000 and has helped around 2.3 million households vulnerable to fuel poverty. The specific targeting of Warm Front assistance has changed during the lifetime of the scheme, however assistance was generally targeted at low income households.
	As specific households in fuel poverty change year on year, it is not possible to accurately estimate the number of households removed from fuel poverty as a direct result of the assistance provided by the Warm Front scheme overall since 2000. There is however a strong correlation between fuel poverty and low income, and we therefore expect many of the 2.3 million low income households assisted by Warm Front to have been lifted out of fuel poverty, or have the extent of their fuel poverty reduced, as a result.

Warm Front Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on the eligibility criteria for (a) the Affordable Warmth scheme and (b) Warm Front; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: ECO Affordable Warmth is targeted at those in receipt of certain means-tested benefits living in private tenure properties. This obligation supports low-income consumers who are vulnerable to the impact of living in cold homes, including the elderly, disabled and families. Full eligibility criteria are set out in the Electricity and Gas (Energy Companies Obligation) Order 2012 at:
	http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/3018/contents/made
	Warm Front is now closed to new applications. Since 2011-12, the eligibility criteria for the scheme have been focused on low income households in private tenure with a thermally inefficient home. At the time of the scheme's closure, eligible households were those in receipt of certain means-tested benefits (precisely the same benefits as those now used for Affordable Warmth) living in private tenure with a SAP rating of 63 or below.

Warm Front Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to his Department's press notice 2012/128 of 19 October 2012, on local energy bills, for what reason his Department did not state that funding for the local authority competition was drawn from funding allocated to the Warm Front budget.

Gregory Barker: We did not mention the source of funding in the press notice announcing the outcomes of DECC Local Authority Fuel Poverty Competition, along with a whole range of other issues and factor, because this was not needed.

Warm Front Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the contribution by the Secretary of State of 16 January 2013, Official Report, column 952, on fuel poverty and energy efficiency, for what reasons the underspend in the Warm Front budget in 2011-12 was not transferred to other fuel poverty or energy efficiency programmes.

Gregory Barker: The original budget for Warm Front and associated fuel poverty expenditure for 2011-12 was £110 million. During 2011-12 total expenditure was almost £108.6 million leaving an underspend of only £1.4 million (equivalent to a little over 1%). Expenditure was reduced to £94.4 million following receipt of agreed rebates from Carillion Energy Services worth nearly £14 million. A further £35 million was also made available to the Department's fuel poverty capital budget. By the close of the financial year, £50.6 million of the total fuel poverty capital budget had not been spent. However, it was not possible given the timing of budget receipts and requirements for internal budget allocations to reallocate this sum to other schemes within the same financial year.

Warm Front Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the contribution by the Secretary of State of 16 January 2013, Official Report, column 952, on fuel poverty and energy efficiency, whether his Department (a) sought and (b) received approval from HM Treasury to transfer the underspend from the budget allocated to the Warm Front schemes to the fuel poverty fund.

Gregory Barker: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey) is responsible for decisions about the use of the fuel poverty capital budget. HM Treasury is supportive of the local authority fuel poverty fund that has been established and, as required under the Local Government Act 2003, has given express approval to the use of Section 31(6) for making the relevant grants to local authorities.

Warm Front Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the contribution by the Secretary of State of 16 January 2013, Official Report, column 951, on fuel poverty and energy efficiency, what the evidential basis is for the statement that the Government expects to spend £70 million on the Warm Front scheme in 2012-13.

Gregory Barker: Although there is inherent uncertainty, the Department closely monitors spend and activity under the Warm Front scheme using information from the scheme manager (Carillion Energy Services) on the level of demand for the scheme and the delivery times experienced.

Warm Front Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to his contribution of 16 January 2013, Official Report, column 957, on fuel poverty and energy efficiency, how many households his Department expects to receive assistance under the Warm Front scheme in 2013.

Gregory Barker: Warm Front is expected to provide assistance for at least 35,000 households in 2012-13.

Warm Front Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the answer of 18 April 2012, Official Report, column 366W, on the Warm Front scheme, what his Department's accounting procedures are for budget under-spends.

Gregory Barker: Where underspends are forecast, DECC may use internal processes for re-allocating budget to other priority areas. Where underspends cannot be re-allocated, the Government's stated policy is that Departments can use the Budget Exchange mechanism to transfer forecast underspends from one year to the next, up to certain limits. Details on Budget Exchange can be found in the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance for 2012-13, which can be found at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/consolidated_budgeting_guidance_201213.pdf

Warm Front Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the written answer of 18 April 2012, Official Report, column 366W and pursuant to the contribution of the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change of 16 January 2013, Official Report, column 951, on the Warm Front Scheme, whether the Government's policy on any underspend in the budget allocated to the Warm Front Scheme has changed since April 2012.

Gregory Barker: Accounting procedures have not changed. It remains the case that an underspend in a given financial year cannot simply be carried forward into the next. That is why we have taken steps in year to maximise the use of the capital budget for fuel poverty for 2012-13. We have also adjusted budgets internally so that there is funding available in 2013-14 for Warm Front installations relating to applications received in 2012-13. This is necessary because we continued to accept Warm Front applications up to 19 January 2013 in order for there to be a smooth transition between Warm Front and the Energy Company Obligation (Affordable Warmth).

Wind Power

Peter Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will take steps to disqualify wind turbines which have been down-rated below their potential capacity from eligibility for the higher feed-in tariff.

Gregory Barker: Payments under the feed-in tariffs scheme are calculated on the basis of electricity generated.
	Decisions about the height, appearance and location of wind turbines are a matter for local planning authorities, and the turbine selection for any individual installation is a commercial matter for the operator.
	Any significant changes to the FITs scheme would be the subject of public consultation.

Wind Power

Peter Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the cost to consumers where wind turbines have been deliberately down-rated to a capacity of 500 kilowatts or less in order to obtain the higher feed-in tariff.

Gregory Barker: Payments under the feed-in-tariffs are made on the basis of electricity generated. The tariffs vary depending on the size of the installation but two turbines of the same size will incur identical cost to consumers.
	Wind farms must be well-designed and well-sited to be approved. As part of the planning process, consideration is given to the impact a wind turbine of the proposed size will have on its environment.

Wind Power

Peter Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many wind turbines rated (a) at 500 kilowatts and (b) between 500 kilowatts and 1500 kilowatts were installed and accredited (i) between 1 April and 31 December 2012 and (ii) in the preceding 12 months.

Gregory Barker: The following link shows the number of wind installations in each period. These figures were published on 24 January 2013 in the ‘Monthly Central Feed-in Tariff Statistics’ table on the DECC website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-energy-climate-change/series/feed-in-tariff-statistics

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Equal Pay

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what steps she is taking to ensure employers in (a) Barnsley Central constituency, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England implement equal pay for women.

Jo Swinson: holding answer 23 January 2013
	The Government is taking a range of steps, aimed at employers and employees, to ensure pay equality and tackle sex discrimination.
	We have launched a voluntary initiative to promote transparency on gender equality. Think, Act, Report asks private and voluntary sector employers to tackle barriers for women at work by taking a step by step approach to greater transparency on pay and other workplace issues. On 14 November 2012, Government published a progress report which showed that over a million employees are working in organisations signed up to this initiative.
	Through the Employment and Regulatory Reform Bill we are introducing a power for Ministers to make regulations at a later date to require employment tribunals to order equal pay audits where an employer has been found to have breached equal pay laws.
	Finally, we are making it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and micro businesses to get good quality advice and support on equality and employment related matters through a series of regional events. Short guides are also available on the Government Equalities Office website which explain the law for businesses and employees clearly.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her Department's projected expenditure on the arts is for (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15, (c) 2015-16 and (d) 2016-17.

Edward Vaizey: DCMS projected expenditure on the Arts for 2013-14 is £349 million and for 2014-15 is £344 million. The Department does not have projected expenditure figures beyond 2014-15.
	2013-14 = 348,000 (ACE) + 1,011 (GAC and central DCMS exp) = £349 million
	2014-15 = 343,000 (ACE) + 1,040 (GAC and central DCMS exp) = £344 million

Arts Council England

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of Government spending is allocated to the Arts Council England.

Edward Vaizey: In 2011-12 the proportion of Government spending allocated to the Arts Council was 0.001%, the same level as in 2009-10.
	Ace GiA including Art Co funding for 2009-10 = £452.7 million
	Total public sector expenditure on services 2009-10 = £642,700 million
	Percentage = 0.0007%
	ACE GiA including Art Co funding for 2011-12 = £393.602
	Total public sector expenditure on services 2011-12 = £665,100 million
	Percentage = 0.0006%

Broadband

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the constitution is of her Department's broadband portfolio board.

Edward Vaizey: The Broadband Portfolio Board is made up of senior representatives from DCMS and other Government Departments including Cabinet Office, HM Treasury, DEFRA, DCLG, BIS and the three territorial offices. There are also members from the BBC Trust, Go On UK, local partnerships (representing the Local Government Association) and Ofcom.

Dell

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many meetings she and officials of her Department had with Dell CSC in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Hugh Robertson: There have been no meetings between Dell CSC and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Maria Miller) or officials of her Department.

Football: Sports Grounds

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which Premier League football stadia have not had real time, real people safety evacuation tests before receiving their ground safety certificate.

Hugh Robertson: We do not hold records about which Premier League football grounds may not have conducted a “live” safety evacuation test prior to being first issued with a safety certificate. The Sports Grounds Safety Authority has produced guidance to assist clubs to develop contingency plans, which include provisions for emergency evacuations, and how those plans may be tested by a range of exercises. It is recommended that such exercises are undertaken at least once a year in consultation with the relevant authorities and emergency services. The Sports Grounds Safety Authority guidance on conducting exercises is contained in its publication “Safety Management”:
	http://www.safetyatsportsgrounds.org.uk/pubs/sgsa/safeman.php

Internet: Access

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what recent discussions she has had with charities on help for pensioners and people from low-income backgrounds to get online;
	(2)  what research her Department has conducted into how to get (a) pensioners and (b) people from low-income backgrounds online.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave on 7 January 2013, Official Report, column 25W, and on 21 January 2013, Official Report, column 48W. I have regular meetings with charities, some of which include discussions on digital capability and support. The Government Digital Service (GDS) is working closely with GO ON UK, an independent charity, and other Government Departments to make sure that no one is excluded from access to digital services.

Olympic Games 2012: Tickets

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who authorised any further expenditure on free Olympic and Paralympic Games tickets in addition to the initial spend on tickets in November 2011.

Hugh Robertson: Further expenditure was authorised by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Maria Miller).

Recruitment

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department has spent on advertising job vacancies since May 2010.

Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has spent £6,490.96 on advertising job vacancies since May 2010. This compares to a total of just under £24,926.34 which was spent in 2009-10.

Sports: Public Participation

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the number of people who were new participants (a) in each sport listed in the recent Active People survey and (b) other sports not listed in that survey; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate she has made of the number of people who had become active since the last Active People survey and were participating in activities other than the sports funded by Sport England; and if she will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: The Active People Survey does not identify whether participants are new to a particular sport as different people are questioned each time. Overall, the data shows sports participation is increasing, with 15.5 million people aged 16 and over playing sport at least once a week, 750,000 more than a year ago.
	This includes those taking part in health and fitness and gym-related activities, where 14.9% of the adult population, or 6.42million adults, take part at least once a week.

Sports: West Midlands

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to ensure that local authorities in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Dudley maintain adequate sports facilities.

Hugh Robertson: Sport England's local team offers support to all local authorities, giving advice improving the efficiency of their facilities management, rationalising provision, and providing funding for capital development.
	(a) The following table shows the funding Sport England have invested in projects in the West Midlands region through their Places People Play legacy programme.
	
		
			 West Midlands 
			  £ 
			 Protecting Playing Fields 1,184,562.00 
			 Inspired Facilities 4,022,627.00 
			 Iconic Facilities 9,210,000.00 
			 Total 14,417,189.00 
		
	
	(b) Sport England and Dudley council are developing a facilities strategy, including a playing pitch strategy, to ensure appropriate provision in the area. Sport England is also funding the council to undertake efficiency modelling of their facilities through the National Benchmarking Service.

TREASURY

Business: Loans

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress he has made on his redress scheme for businesses that may have been mis-sold interest rate swap products by banks; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Clark: The redress scheme for businesses that may have been mis-sold an interest rate swap product is being run by the Financial Services Authority. The Financial Services Authority is currently reviewing each bank's pilot scheme and will announce the start of the full review process shortly.

Child Benefit

Ian Murray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in (a) Scotland and (b) each local authority area opted out of receiving child benefit by the deadline on 6 January 2013.

David Gauke: This information is not available.
	An estimate of the number of letters issued to taxpayers in respect of the higher income child benefit charge by the end of November, by constituency was published in response to parliamentary question number 131585 on 4 December 2012, Official Report, column 691W:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm121204/text/121204w0001.htm

Child Benefit

Chris Bryant: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the cost was to the public purse in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012 of child benefit paid to people residing outside the UK;
	(2)  what level of supplementary child benefit was paid to a family consisting of one parent working in the UK and the other (a) employed and (b) unemployed parent and dependent child living together in another EEA/EU member state in the latest period for which figures are available.

Sajid Javid: The main purpose of child benefit is to support families in the UK. Consequently, the child benefit rules generally do not provide for it to be paid to persons residing outside the UK.
	However, child benefit is a family benefit under EC Regulation 883/2004 which protects the social security rights of nationals of all EEA member states when they exercise their rights of free movement under EU law. HM Revenue & Customs maintains a database showing the number of ongoing UK family benefit awards (child benefit and child tax credit) made under EC Regulation 883/2004 which provides information about the aggregate number of awards and the aggregate number of children involved per member state of the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel) on 22 October 2012, Official Report, columns 619-20W.
	Information about the value of such awards is only available at disproportionate costs because under the priority rules in that regulation not all awards of UK family benefit are made at the full UK rates.

Child Benefit

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many non-UK EEA nationals have dependants eligible to receive child benefit under EC Regulation 883/2004 where the dependant is outside the UK; and what estimate he has made of how this number might change by 2016 as a result of the ending of transitional immigration controls on Romania and Bulgaria on 1 January 2014.

Sajid Javid: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel) on 22 October 2012, Official Report, columns 619-20W, regarding the number of ongoing awards of UK child benefit under EC Regulation 883/2004 where the dependant is resident in another member state of the EEA.
	There is no estimate currently available of how the number of such awards might change by 2016 as a result of the ending of transitional labour market controls on nationals of Bulgaria and Romania. At this stage, any such forecasts are likely to be unreliable.

Conditions of Employment

Julie Elliott: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people are employed on zero-hour contracts in his Department.

Sajid Javid: HM Treasury does not employ any staff on zero-hour contracts.

Contracts and Meetings

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many contracts were awarded by his Department to Oracle in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(2)  how many contracts were awarded by his Department to Xerox in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(3)  how many contracts were awarded by his Department to DELL CSC in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(4)  how many contracts were awarded by his Department to Symantec in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(5)  how many contracts were awarded by his Department to Amazon in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(6)  how many contracts were awarded by his Department to Google in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(7)  how many meetings he and officials of his Department had with Google in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(8)  how many meetings he and officials of his Department had with Amazon in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(9)  how many meetings he and officials of his Department had with Oracle in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(10)  how many meetings he and officials of his Department had with Xerox in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(11)  how many meetings he and officials of his Department had with Dell CSC in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(12)  how many meetings he and officials of his Department had with Symantec in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Sajid Javid: In line with the Government's “Transparency” agenda, since January 2011 HM Treasury has published details of all new contracts it has awarded with an expected value of over £10,000 (excluding VAT) on Contracts Finder. Details of these contracts awarded since January 2011, are available here:
	https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/
	Treasury Ministers and officials engage with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. The Treasury publishes a list of ministerial meetings with external organisations. This is available online at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm

Debts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the level of individual household debt in each of the last 30 years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your question asking what estimate the Chancellor of the Exchequer has made of the level of individual household debt in each of the last 30 years. (139265)
	In the UK National Accounts the most appropriate measure of household debt is the total financial liabilities of the Household and Non Profit Institutions Serving Households (NPISH) combined sector. Although the sectors are not split, NPISH (which includes for example, charities, trade unions and churches) makes up less than 5 per cent of the total financial liabilities.
	Data for the total financial liabilities of the Household and NPISH sector exists at the UK national level and has a time series going back to 1987, as shown in Table 1.
	Households in the national accounts are defined as being individuals or groups of people sharing living accommodation and possibly other aspects of daily life such as meals.
	Data used here can be found as part of United Kingdom Economic Accounts, Quarter 3 2012:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/naa1-rd/united-kingdom-economic-accounts/q3-2012/index.html
	Table A64 shows, in more detail, the aggregated liabilities.
	
		
			 Table 1: Total financial liabilities of the Household and NPISH sector 
			  Total financial liabilities (£ billion) 
			 1987 270 
			 1988 323 
			 1989 372 
			 1990 418 
			 1991 450 
			 1992 469 
			 1993 486 
			 1994 508 
			 1995 532 
			 1996 552 
			 1997 589 
			 1998 628 
			 1999 677 
			 2000 734 
		
	
	
		
			 2001 810 
			 2002 922 
			 2003 1,049 
			 2004 1,182 
			 2005 1,256 
			 2006 1,413 
			 2007 1,521 
			 2008 1,550 
			 2009 1,533 
			 2010 1,541 
			 2011 1,529 
			 Note: These data are in current prices and therefore reflect the impact of inflation. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Total financial liabilities are calculated by summing the following aggregate liabilities: 
			 Liability 2011 (rounded to the nearest £ billion) 
			 Securities other than shares 9 
			 Long and short term loans 1,446 
			 Other accounts payable 74

EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 11 December 2012, Official Report, columns 18-20WS, on Ecofin, relating to economic governance, for what reasons the Government has reiterated its position in respect of any new commitments from the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism; and whether he has received any recent reports that other member states have changed their position in this respect.

Greg Clark: The “two-pack” of draft regulations—aimed at improving economic governance in the euro area—contains provisions for enhanced surveillance when euro area member states request financial assistance. It refers to possible requests from a range of financial instruments, including the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM). While there is agreement that there should be no new commitments from the EFSM now that the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) has been established, the EFSM is referred to in the “two-pack” because the regulation which establishes the EFSM is still in place, and EFSM programmes for Ireland and Portugal are still active.
	Therefore, for the avoidance of any doubt, the Government recalled the commitment made by all member states that there should be no new commitments from the EFSM once the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) was established. The Government has not received any reports that other member states have changed their position and expects all member states to honour that commitment.

Gamma International

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if HM Revenue and Customs is (a) planning or (b) conducting an investigation into whether (i) Bahraini pro-democracy activists received emails containing malware FinSpy distributed by Gamma International and (ii) exports by Gamma International have been appropriately licensed; if he will send directly to individuals who have reportedly been victims of the use of unlicensed surveillance software exported from the UK, and place a copy in the Library, a progress report of any such investigation; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: HMRC cannot comment on individual cases. HMRC considers all credible information it receives and takes action accordingly. HMRC places a high priority on enforcing UK strategic export controls.

Immigrants: Social Security Benefits

Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of migrants residing in the UK who claim benefits on behalf of children living abroad, broken down by country of residence of the child.

Sajid Javid: The main purpose of child benefit and the child tax credit is to support families in the UK. Consequently, the rules for these benefits generally do not provide for them to be paid in respect of children who live abroad.
	Nevertheless, both child benefit and the child tax credit are family benefits under EC Regulation 883/2004. This regulation protects the social security rights of nationals of all member states of the European economic area (EEA), including the UK, and Switzerland when they exercise their rights of free movement under EU law.
	Around 7.5 million families are currently claiming child benefit for around 13 million children and approximately 5.2 million families are receiving the child tax credit for almost 9.3 million children. Of that total, at 31 December 2012, there were 24,082 ongoing child benefit awards under EC Regulation 883/2004 in respect of 40,171 children living in another member state and 4,011 ongoing child tax credit awards under the regulation in respect of 6,838 children living in another member state.
	The breakdown by member state is as follows:
	
		
			 Child benefit 
			 Country Number of ongoing awards as at 31 December 2012 Number of children in ongoing awards as at 31 December 2012 
			 Austria 29 47 
			 Belgium 138 274 
			 Bulgaria 174 238 
			 Cyprus 53 80 
			 Czech Republic 176 282 
			 Denmark 20 35 
			 Estonia 43 63 
			 Finland 16 30 
			 France 1,080 2,003 
			 Germany 366 641 
			 Greece 51 76 
			 Hungary 132 203 
			 Iceland 3 5 
			 Italy 193 330 
			 Latvia 853 1,117 
			 Lithuania 1,276 1,772 
			 Luxembourg 10 21 
			 Malta 14 21 
			 Netherlands 192 379 
			 Norway 14 65 
		
	
	
		
			 Poland 15,499 25,659 
			 Portugal 239 364 
			 Republic of Ireland 1,281 2,609 
			 Romania 196 328 
			 Slovakia 1,083 1,881 
			 Slovenia 7 13 
			 Spain 756 1,275 
			 Sweden 66 122 
			 Switzerland 122 238 
			 Totals 24,082 40,171 
		
	
	
		
			 Child tax credit 
			 Country Number of ongoing awards as at 31 December 2012 Number of children in ongoing awards as at 31 December 2012 
			 Austria 3 4 
			 Belgium 4 11 
			 Bulgaria 52 66 
			 Cyprus 2 6 
			 Czech Republic 25 38 
			 Denmark 1 1 
			 Estonia 9 9 
			 Finland 2 3 
			 France 95 203 
			 Germany 38 60 
			 Greece 5 11 
			 Hungary 43 65 
			 Iceland 0 0 
			 Italy 13 21 
			 Latvia 178 243 
			 Lithuania 339 484 
			 Luxembourg 1 2 
			 Malta 2 2 
			 Netherlands 10 22 
			 Norway 6 18 
			 Poland 2,278 3,829 
			 Portugal 22 40 
			 Republic of Ireland 611 1,207 
			 Romania 45 68 
			 Slovakia 141 256 
			 Slovenia 1 2 
			 Spain 79 153 
			 Sweden 3 10 
			 Switzerland 3 4 
			 Totals 4,011 6,838

Income Tax

Andrew Percy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in each of the smallest geographical units for which information is available will no longer pay income tax as a result of changes to the income tax threshold announced since May 2010, including the measures announced in the autumn statement 2012.

David Gauke: The number of individuals taken out of income tax due to the cumulative impact of all increases to the personal allowance made by the Government is not available beyond a regional level. This information is as follows:
	
		
			 Combined impact of all PA increases by this Government 2013-14 (excludes 65-year-olds) 
			 Thousand 
			 Region Taken out of tax 
			 North-east 90 
			 North-west and Merseyside 249 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 192 
			 East midlands 167 
			 West midlands 194 
			 East of England 200 
			 London 255 
			 South-east 283 
			 South-west 191 
			 Wales 109 
			 Scotland 183 
			 Northern Ireland 64 
			 Unknown/Address Abroad 34 
			 All 2,210

Infrastructure

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent steps he has taken to increase the levels of infrastructure investment.

Danny Alexander: This Government has increased capital expenditure compared to the previous Government's plans by £9 billion as a result of the autumn statement 2011 and autumn statement 2012 capital packages. As a result, public investment as a percentage of GDP is now higher on average in this Parliament than under the previous Government. The Government has also used its hard won fiscal credibility to support investment by making up to £40 billion of guarantees available for eligible infrastructure projects, and up to £10 billion for housing guarantees.

Listed Buildings

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of (a) the effect on the maintenance and renewal of listed buildings of changes in taxation since May 2010 and (b) the potential such effect of any future such changes that are currently under consideration. [R]

David Gauke: A Tax Impact and Information Note setting out the Government's assessment of the impacts of the removal of the zero rate for approved alterations to listed buildings was published on Budget Day 2012. This is available on the HMRC website at the following link:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/tiins.htm
	Since Budget 2011, Tax Impact and Information Notes for changes in taxation have been published on the HMRC website. Prior to Budget 2011, the Government published Impact Assessments setting out the likely costs, benefits and impacts of legislative changes. These are available on the HMRC website at the following link:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/better-regulation/ia.htm

Multinational Companies: Taxation

Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the use of internal trademark payments by international companies to reduce their tax liabilities.

David Gauke: The corporation tax return does not require payments made in respect of trademarks to be recorded. This information may be submitted to HMRC as part of a company's tax computations but this information could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

Multinational Companies: Taxation

Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the potential effect of measures in his draft Finance Bill on profit-shifting.

David Gauke: On 11 December 2012 draft legislation for Finance Bill 2013 was published for eight weeks of technical consultation. The Government also published Tax Information and Impact Notes on each measure which sets out what the legislation seeks to achieve, why the Government is undertaking the change and a summary of the excepted impacts.
	All publications can be found on both the HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs websites.

PAYE

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many hashes have been received by HM Revenue and Customs during the current PAYE real time information pilot; and how many such hashes were received by (a) HM Revenue and Customs and (b) the Government Gateway, or EDI channel, from employers reporting submissions directly to HM Revenue and Customs.

David Gauke: holding answer 17 January 2013
	The number of hashes received by HMRC from employers in the real time information (RTI) pilot was 14,043,776 at 10:48 am on 16 January 2013. All of these hashes were submitted within RTI returns accepted through the Government Gateway or EDI channels.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 31 October 2012, Official Report, column 220W, on press subscriptions, how much his Department has spent on subscriptions since May 2010.

Sajid Javid: Between May 2010 and December 2012 the Department spent £109,000 on newspaper subscriptions and £29,000 on magazine and periodical subscriptions.
	The following figures provide a breakdown on expenditure per year from 2009 to 2012:
	
		
			 £ 
			  Newspapers Periodicals 
			 2009-10 185,103 4,547 
			 2010-11 47,823 14,525 
			 2011-12 33,814 7,939

Redundancy Pay

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total amount of redundancy pay paid to civil servants in his Department was in each month from July to December 2012.

Sajid Javid: The Treasury did not incur any spending on compulsory redundancies during the period in question.
	However, the Treasury has managed a small number of voluntary exits from the organisation in line with the Civil Service Compensation scheme. Spending was incurred on voluntary exits amounting to £668,000 during the period comprising:
	
		
			  £ 
			 July 94,000 
			 August 264,000 
			 September 0 
			 October 0 
			 November 12,000 
			 December 299,000

Revenue and Customs

Nick Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for South West Hertfordshire of 16 January 2013, Official Report, column 763W, on Revenue and Customs: telephone services, and with reference to the National Audit Office report entitled Core Skills at HM Revenue and Customs, HC 1595 of Session 2010-12, when he expects that the higher-level modules covering enquiries into large businesses, negotiating skills, communication and dispute resolution will be available.

David Gauke: HMRC no longer badges the learning for its tax professionals as 'foundation' and 'higher' but instead groups the learning under 'core', ‘tax’ and ‘powers and compliance’. Under the powers and compliance grouping a case working skills module is in the final stages of development. The final part of this module will be released by 28 February 2013

Revenue and Customs

Nick Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2013, Official Report, column 923W, on revenue and customs, if he will set out details of how and when the evaluation is to be carried out.

David Gauke: All activities for the Operational Delivery Profession are evaluated and the data is compiled, analysed and acted upon to facilitate continuous improvement. Best practice is shared with other Government Departments to maximise value for money.
	Evaluation is done from the planning stage right through to the end of the activity. The evaluation process can take between three months and 12 months and uses a number of summative and formative processes and looks to include everyone involved in the process.

Revenue and Customs: Training

Nick Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for South West Hertfordshire of 16 January 2013, Official Report, column 764W, on Revenue and Customs: training, and with reference to paragraph 1.13 of the National Audit Office report entitled Core Skills at HM Revenue and Customs, HC 1595 of Session 2010-12, when he expects that more role-specific in-depth training for non-technical skills will be put in place.

David Gauke: Non-technical training includes core-skills (e.g. health and safety) and leadership and management plus specific skills required for working in the civil service. This generic learning and development offer is delivered by Civil Service Learning (CSL).
	The learning and development products available from CSL are published in the CSL Common Curriculum and accessed via the CSL portal. CSL are progressively developing and releasing new products into a cross government offer known as the Common Curriculum. The CSL portal and latest version of the Common Curriculum are currently available to all staff on the HMRC learning website.
	Core skill development is supported by locally provided coaching and mentoring. Line managers also have a role as the developer of their team. The provision and timing of this support is agreed by the individual and their line manager once the learning need has been identified and agreed.
	HMRC is putting in place an improved management and leadership framework which is linked to and complements available CSL products. This will be available from 25 February 2013. Existing learning/information and support is already available through the current HMRC learning website.

Self-employed: Child Tax Credit

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many people who are self-employed claimed child tax credit in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) each parliamentary constituency in the last year for which figures are available;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the total amount of child tax credit paid to people who are self-employed in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland in the last year for which figures are available.

Sajid Javid: The following table details the number of self-employed tax credit recipients who receive some child tax credit; and the total amount of child tax credit that is paid to these recipients. This is provided specifically for Scotland, and for the UK as a whole. The figures are based on the finalised tax credits data for 2010-11.
	A breakdown of self-employed child tax credit claimants by parliamentary constituency is provided in Annex A, which will be placed in the Library.
	
		
			  Scotland UK 
			 Number of self-employed tax credit claimants receiving some child tax credit 50,000 800,000 
		
	
	
		
			 Total amount of child tax credit paid to self-employed recipients £160 million £2.95 billion

Senior Civil Servants

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of officials of the three most senior grades in his Department have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement, (c) left the Department for alternative employment, (d) been dismissed, (e) taken long-term sick leave and (f) taken administrative leave since May 2010.

Sajid Javid: Please see the information requested in the following table:
	
		
			  May 2010 to March 2011 April 2011 to March2012 April 2012 to December 2012 
			 Resignations Fewer than 5 5% 9% 
			 Voluntary Early Retirement Fewer than 5 Fewer than 5 Fewer than 5 
			 Alternative Employment (Permanent Transfers) 5% 7% Fewer than 5 
			 Dismissed 0% 0% 0% 
			 Long Term Sick leave Fewer than 5 Fewer than 5 Fewer than 5 
			 Administrative Leave 0% 0% 0% 
			 Note: Percentages are based on average SCS FTE for each period

Shipping: Industry

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  with reference to the Oxford Economics report for Maritime UK on the economic impact of the UK Maritime Services Sector published in December 2012, what proportion of the estimated £2.7 billion contribution to the Exchequer from the maritime services sector in 2011 was from (a) employees' earnings, (b) seafarers' earnings and (c) maritime financial service companies;
	(2)  what the total direct contribution to the Exchequer was of (a) maritime sector employees' earnings, (b) seafarers' earnings, (c) maritime financial service companies and (d) other maritime industry categories in each year since 2000-01;
	(3)  what the total contribution to gross domestic product was of (a) the maritime services sector, (b) the shipping industry and (c) maritime financial services in each year since 2000-01.

David Gauke: The report produced by Oxford Economics for Maritime UK, ‘The economic impact of the UK Maritime Service Sector’, estimates that in 2011 the Maritime sector is directly responsible for 165,400 jobs in the UK, made a £13.8 billion direct value-added contribution to GDP and generated £2.7 billion in tax receipts.
	The Treasury does not currently have access to a further breakdown of these figures or a breakdown of the data back to 2000-01.

Tax Allowances: Charities

Richard Burden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions registered charities have been (a) denied tax relief and (b) subject to the recovery of tax relief in each of the last five years; and what the monetary value of tax relief was in each case.

Sajid Javid: Charities may claim tax reliefs and exemptions across a number of taxes.
	HM Revenue and Customs does not keep a central record of the cases in which charities have been denied a tax relief or exemption, or have been required to repay tax on a relief or exemption to which they were not entitled.

Tax Allowances: Charities

Richard Burden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 323W, on charities: Israel, whether HM Revenue and Customs has taken any additional measures to satisfy itself that payments to registered charities are applied for wholly charitable purposes and that charities remain entitled to tax relief.

Sajid Javid: All charitable tax exemptions are subject to the condition that income is applied to charitable purposes. Where a charity's income and gains are not applied solely to charitable purposes, its exemption from tax may be restricted. HMRC carries out inquiries into charities using a risk-based approach and applies a range of sanctions on charities that claim exemption on income applied for not wholly charitable purposes.

Welfare Tax Credits

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many people in households likely to be affected by the one per cent increase in working age benefits and tax credits for the three years from 2013-14 are in work;
	(2)  with reference to page 56, line 19, of the Autumn Statement 2012, what the average cash loss in 2017-18 will be for in-work families affected by the proposal to increase working age discretionary benefits and tax credits by one per cent for three years from 2013-14;
	(3)  with reference to page 56, line 19, of the Autumn Statement 2012, what estimate he has made of the number of in-work families in 2017-18 that will be affected by the proposal to increase working age discretionary benefits and tax credits by one per cent for three years from 2013-14.

Sajid Javid: The Department for Work and Pensions estimate that around 6.5 million working age households will be affected by the 1% uprating of discretionary working age benefits and tax credits (line 19 of table 2.1 in autumn statement of 5 December 2012, Official Report, columns 871-882).
	Around half of these are households where no individual is in work, and around half are households where at least one individual works at least one hour a week.
	Uprating policy has not been set for the years beyond 2015-16, so the impacts cannot be assessed for 2017-18.
	This analysis looks at the 1% uprating of discretionary working age benefit and tax credits in isolation, and does not take account of other Government policies such as the largest ever increase to the personal allowance that will take effect in April 2013.
	Numbers are rounded to nearest the 100,000.

Welfare Tax Credits: Appeals

Hilary Benn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average length of time taken to conclude tax credit appeals is; and if he will make a statement.

Sajid Javid: The year-to-date figure for the average number of days it takes for HM Revenue and Customs to settle the appeal, or where that is not possible, submit HMRC's defence of the decision under appeal to tribunal is as follows:
	for appeals received against decisions made in the normal day-to-day activity of administering tax credits is 105 days; and
	for appeals received against decisions made in targeted compliance activity cases is 239 days.

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of questions for written answer on a named day by his Department (a) received a substantive answer after the named day and (b) have not received a substantive answer in this Session;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of questions tabled for ordinary written answer by his Department (a) were answered after 30 days and (b) have not been answered in this Session.

Sajid Javid: As of 10 January 2013, Treasury Ministers had responded to 77% of the 989 named day parliamentary questions received on the named day and 84% of the 989 ordinary written questions received within deadline during the current Session.
	Four ordinary written parliamentary questions that have passed their deadline remain unanswered, with a further one for named day written answer.
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the current session. Statistics relating to performance for the 2010-12 parliamentary session are available on the Parliament website as follows:
	http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/procedure/P35_Memorandum_Leader_of_the_House_ Monitoring_PQs.pdf

JUSTICE

Cannabis: Wales

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many penalty notices of disorder for the offence of possession of cannabis have been issued in North Wales since 2009 to (a) adults and (b) juveniles;
	(2)  how many cautions for possession of cannabis have been issued in North Wales in each of the last 10 years.

Jeremy Wright: The number of Penalty Notices for Disorder issued for possession of cannabis between 2009 and 2011 and the number of cautions issued for possession of cannabis from 2002 to 2011, in the North Wales police force area, can be viewed in the table.
	Court proceedings data for 2012 are planned for publication in May 2013.
	
		
			 Number of Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) issued and number of offenders cautioned for the offence of possession of cannabis(1), North Wales police force area, 2002-11(2) 
			  Offence description: Possession of cannabis 
			 Outcome Age groups 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 PND(3) Juveniles (aged 16-17) n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 
			  Adults (aged 18 and over) n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 101 165 115 
			  Total n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 101 165 117 
			             
			 Cautions(4) Juveniles (aged 10-17) 173 161 163 102 71 17 41 28 32 65 
			  Adults (aged 18 and over) 503 528 238 181 127 91 147 109 106 139 
		
	
	
		
			  Total 676 689 401 283 198 108 188 137 138 204 
			 n/a = Not applicable. (1) An offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, s.5(2) (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) PNDs were rolled out nationally on 1 April 2004. (4) The cautions statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been cautioned for two or more offences at the same time the principal offence is the more serious offence. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice

Community Orders

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he has considered introducing powers for offender managers to issue fixed penalty notices if an offender fails to comply with a community order.

Jeremy Wright: In the consultation ‘Punishment and reform: Effective Community Sentences’, the Government sought views on how to promote greater compliance with community orders. The consultation paper suggested the creation of a new power for offender managers to impose a fixed penalty notice on an offender for the breach of a community order, without having to return the offender to the court. However, while many respondents welcomed the idea of increased discretion for probation staff, most argued that courts were best placed to deal with breaches and that a financial penalty for low income offenders could be counter-productive, potentially leading to further offending. As a result, the Government decided not to take forward the proposal.
	The Government is considering what further action might be taken to improve compliance with community orders and on 3 December 2012 the Government implemented the power for a court to fine an offender for breach of a community order.

Confiscation Orders

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effects of the seizure of offenders' assets on public confidence in the criminal justice system.

Jeremy Wright: Courts have a range of powers to seize assets from offenders in certain circumstances. The Government has also introduced provisions in the Crime and Courts Bill to make it clear that when fixing the level of a financial penalty courts can require offenders to provide information about their assets as well as their income. In this way, courts will be able to take into account an offender's assets when setting the value of a fine. The Government has also recently consulted on a range of measures to ensure convicted criminals pay back legal aid in the Crown court, including seizing and ultimately selling the vehicles of those who do not pay their contributions.
	The Government has no current plans to assess the impact of asset seizure on public confidence in the criminal justice system, but we believe that confiscation of assets sends a robust message to offenders that their actions have significant consequences.

Criminal Proceedings

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress his Department has made in reviewing the criminal justice process from end-to-end with a view to improving services for victims and witnesses.

Helen Grant: In our response to the “Getting it right for victims and witnesses” consultation, published last July, we set out our strategy to improve services and support for victims and witnesses across the criminal justice system. As part of this work, we are currently revising the Victims' Code of Practice to give victims clearer entitlements from criminal justice agencies and more support and guidance in how to navigate the criminal justice system.
	In November last year, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), announced as one of his priorities a drive for a criminal justice and court system that works effectively and puts victims first. Work is under way to increase both the effectiveness and efficiency of the criminal justice system. It will look at the whole of the system to drive performance and tackle some of the perennial weaknesses so it is quicker, less erratic and more efficient. Giving victims a louder voice will be central to this.

Crown Courts: Greater Manchester

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the adequacy of resources available to Manchester Crown court to ensure that undue delays in the conduct of trials at that court are avoided.

Helen Grant: The allocation of resources to the Crown court, including Manchester Crown court, is made by HMCTS on the basis of workload projections. The adequacy of those resources is monitored monthly through local, regional and national assessments of the court's performance to ensure that the requirements for timely access to justice are achieved.

Ford Prison

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the most recent report of HMP Ford's Independent Monitoring Board.

Jeremy Wright: I will be sending a full written response to the Chair of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) at Ford, addressing the concerns raised in the Board's Annual Report, as soon as the issues have been fully considered. I will forward you a copy of my reply in due course.

Ford Prison

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he will take to address the finding of HMP Ford's Independent Monitoring Board that 85 per cent of Ford's prisoners are currently involved in the use of synthetic cannabinoids.

Jeremy Wright: HMP Ford is increasing drug supply reduction measures with a zero tolerance for those prisoners found in possession of synthetic cannabinoids and has developed a new local strategy to address the issue. In addition they have introduced the indicative test for ‘Spice’ to be used as part of their Compact based testing programme.
	NOMS has a comprehensive range of measures to tackle drugs. These include drug detection dogs, procedures to tackle visitors who seek to smuggle drugs and phones into prisons, and mobile phone detection technology. NOMS is also increasing the number of drug free wings in prisons, rolling out a networked IT intelligence system and providing prisons with short range mobile phone blockers which will help prisons prevent prisoners using mobile phones, which is often associated with drug supply.
	NOMS is working closely with the Department of Health and service providers to create integrated, recovery orientated and outcome focused substance misuse services.

Legal Aid Scheme

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 26 November 2012, Official Report, columns 56-7W, on the legal aid scheme, how many and what proportion of the total number of legal aid claimants received financial assistance for each type of case in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: Legal Services Commission (LSC) does not record the number of individuals receiving legal aid; instead it records the number of acts of assistance. One individual may receive a number of separate acts of assistance, and one act of assistance can help more than one person.
	The number of acts of assistance provided in each of the last five years within categories of law together with the proportion of the total number of acts of assistance is provided in the following tables:
	
		
			  Number of acts of assistance in controlled work (legal help) by category of law Acts of assistance in controlled work (legal help) by category of law as a proportion of the total number of acts of assistance in all schemes (percentage) 
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Family 263,009 287,004 309,708 269,774 234,880 10 10 10 10 9 
			 Housing 157,729 173,613 172,406 146,669 141,862 6 6 6 5 6 
			 Welfare benefits 126,589 137,557 143,814 120,020 110,725 5 5 5 4 4 
			 Debt 111,463 132,936 146,735 127,834 109,221 4 5 5 5 4 
			 Immigration 84,899 94,983 98,643 83,453 61,105 3 3 3 3 2 
			 Mental health 35,414 36,374 38,177 34,243 39,409 1 1 1 1 2 
			 Employment 22,638 28,218 31,725 25,275 20,203 1 1 1 1 1 
			 Community care 4,853 7,527 8,794 6,226 6,719 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Education 9,067 7,102 5,335 4,665 3,768 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Miscellaneous 7,013 6,871 4,751 2,397 905 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Actions against the police 4,323 4,709 4,905 3,621 3,965 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Clinical negligence 3,832 3,597 4,024 3,977 3,641 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Consumer 3,360 3,084 2,776 1,218 548 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Public law 1,935 2,463 2,218 1,501 1,606 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Personal injury 1,307 1,616 1,724 828 507 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Telephone triage 166,302 235,947 290,574 264,339 200,737 6 8 10 10 8 
			 Controlled work total 1,004,233 1,163,601 1,266,309 1,096,040 939,801 38 41 43 40 38 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of acts of assistance in licence work (where a legal aid certificate has been granted in more complicated and serious civil cases) by category of law Acts of assistance in licence work( where a legal aid certificate has been granted in more complicated and serious civil cases) by category of law as a proportion of the total number of acts of assistance in all schemes (percentage) 
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Family 119,361 125,045 139,800 128,497 125,704 5 4 5 5 5 
			 Housing 11,743 12,628 12,531 10,796 10,799 0 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Welfare benefits 39 48 51 22 20 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Debt 372 442 459 345 206 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Immigration 1,747 2,285 2,991 2,463 2,332 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Mental health 248 344 452 463 597 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Employment 64 43 71 55 55 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Community care 697 922 810 834 729 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Education 218 260 206 139 125 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Miscellaneous 950 894 840 570 367 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Actions against the police 1,015 1,090 989 1,021 1,112 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Clinical negligence 3,868 3,883 3,446 2,897 2,625 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Consumer 452 493 474 277 143 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Public law 1,371 1,434 1,724 1,357 1,522 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Personal injury 93 52 20 21 6 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Licence work total 142,238 149,863 164,864 149,757 146,342 5 5 6 6 6 
			            
			 Crime Lower (Police Station advice and magistrates court representation) 1,378,500 1,430,000 1,407,700 1,338,100 1,252,200 52 50 47 49 51 
			            
			 Crime Higher (Crown Court and above) 123,500 120,000 126,100 130,600 138,500 5 4 4 5 6 
		
	
	
		
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Total acts of assistance (1)2,648,471 2,863,464 2,964,973 2,714,497 2,476,843 
			 (1) The total number of acts of assistance in 2007-08 differs from what is recorded in the LSC's annual report which reported 2,502,000. This was due to a change in the way acts of assistance are counted.

Legal Aid Scheme

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have received assistance through the legal aid programme (a) once, (b) twice and (c) three or more times in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: There is no unique identifier to be able to identify the total number of named individuals to have received legal aid; instead the Legal Services Commission (LSC) records the number of acts of assistance. One individual may receive a number of separate acts of assistance, and one act of assistance can help more than one person.
	The total number of acts of assistance for each of the last five years is provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Total acts of assistance 
			 2007-08(1) 2,648,471 
			 2008-09 2,863,464 
			 2009-10 2,964,973 
			 2010-11 2,714,497 
			 2011-12 2,476,843 
			 (1) The total number of acts of assistance in 2007-08 differs from what is recorded in the LSC's annual report which reported 2,502,000. This was due to a change in the way acts of assistance are counted.

Personal Injury: Compensation

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what plans he has to meet representatives of the insurance industry to discuss his proposals to reduce the recoverable fixed fee in personal injury cases;
	(2)  what plans he has to meet representatives of the claimant industry to discuss his proposals to reduce the recoverable fixed fee in personal injury cases;
	(3)  what meetings he had with (a) the insurance industry and (b) claimant representatives ahead of the call for evidence on the extension of the Road Traffic Accident personal injury scheme: Proposals on fixed fees;
	(4)  what discussions he plans to have with (a) the insurance industry and (b) claimant representatives before a final recoverable fixed fee in personal injury cases is set;
	(5)  what plans his Department has to conduct an assessment of the low value road traffic accident process for personal injury claims.

Helen Grant: The information is as follows:
	PQs 139117-139120
	Neither the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), nor I had any specific meetings with either the insurance industry or claimant representatives immediately prior to the publication of this Department's proposals for the reduction of fixed recoverable fees in relation to the extended Road Traffic Accident Personal Injury scheme.
	At present, there are no plans for us to meet, or have discussions with, either insurance or claimant representatives about these proposals before final rates are set. The Department has, however, received over 750 responses to the recent consultation on the proposals. These are currently being analysed and the views of both insurance and claimant respondents will be fully considered before final decisions are made.
	PQ 139121
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton (Steve Rotheram) on 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 370W.

Prisoners: British Nationals Abroad

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average length of time is between an agreement by the National Offender Management Service and the repatriation of UK citizens jailed in the US.

Jeremy Wright: The transfer of prisoners between the United Kingdom and the United States is governed by the Council of Europe convention on the transfer of sentenced persons. Each case is considered on its individual merits and the length of time taken to determine each case may vary. In 2012, 11 prisoners were transferred from the US to England and Wales. In these cases the shortest period of time between NOMS consenting to the transfer and the prisoner being repatriated was 110 days. The longest period was 191 days. The average period for all 11 cases was 138 days.
	The consent of the British authorities to transfer does not mark the conclusion of a case. Once our consent is given it still requires the US authorities to determine whether or not they wish to proceed with the transfer. This decision will be based on information provided by the British authorities, together with its consent, on the administration of the sentence following transfer. Should the US authorities agree to transfer, the prisoner is then required to give his consent. This takes place at a consent verification hearing before a US magistrate. Only once this hearing has taken place can arrangements be made for the return of the prisoner to the UK.
	The transfer of prisoners from United States of America to Scotland and Northern Ireland is a devolved matter and is the responsibility of the relevant Minister.

Prisons: Merseyside

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to build prisons in Sefton in the next five years.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice is currently undertaking feasibility work which will include an examination of operating and funding arrangements and determining in more detail the most appropriate location, role and size of a prison.
	The Ministry of Justice will work with the relevant parties in the three priority locations—the north west, north Wales and London—as part of the feasibility work, which will include the search for a suitable site.

Probation: Social Security Benefits

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of individuals being supervised in the community by the Probation Service in England and Wales are in receipt of state benefits.

Jeremy Wright: It is estimated that around 60% of offenders given a community order or suspended sentence are in receipt of benefits during the month before their sentence.
	This is the latest information available and is taken from the Ministry of Justice's data-share with the Department for Work and Pensions and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs which includes offenders' benefit and P45 employment status between 2000 to 2010. The estimate relates to offenders who are included in the data share (86% of all offenders) and who were sentenced in the 12 months to 30 November 2010.
	Benefits include all out-of-work benefits (jobseeker's allowance, employment and support allowance, incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance, permanent injury benefit and income support) and most other DWP benefits; however it excludes housing benefit, council tax benefit, child benefit and tax credits.
	This figure has been drawn from several administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	Further information on the proportion of offenders receiving DWP benefits (jobseeker's allowance, incapacity benefit, employment and support allowance and income support etc.), is available in the publication titled “Offending, employment and benefits—emerging findings from the data linkage project”, at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/statistics/mojstats/offending-employment-benefits-emerging-findings-1111.pdf

Reparation by Offenders

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what evidence his Department has evaluated on the effects of restorative justice models on (a) costs, (b) reoffending, (c) victim satisfaction and (d) community satisfaction.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice commissioned an evaluation of a number of restorative justice pilot schemes.
	The evaluation looked at victim satisfaction(1) and the results were published in June 2007 on the Ministry of Justice website:
	http://www.restorativejustice.org.uk/resource/ministry_of_justice_evaluation_restorative_justice_the_ views_of_victims_and_offenders/
	The evaluation also looked at reoffending rates, and costs and benefits across the pilot schemes(2). The results were published in June 2008 and can be found on the Ministry of Justice website:
	http://www.restorativejustice.org.uk/resource/ministry_of _justice_evaluation_does_restorative_justice_affect_ reconviction_the_fourth_report_from_the_evaluation_of_ three_schemes/
	The evaluation did not look at community satisfaction.
	(1 )Shapland, J., Atkinson, A., Atkinson, H., Chapman, B., Dignan, J., Howes, ivi., Johnstone, J., Robinson, G., and Sorsby, A. (2007) Restorative justice: the views of victims and offenders. The third report from an evaluation of three schemes. Ministry of Justice Research Series 3/07.
	(2 )Shapland, J., Atkinson, A., Atkinson, H., Dignan, J., Edwards, L., Hibbert, J., Howes, M, Johnstone, J., Robinson, G. and Sorsby, A. (2008) Does restorative justice affect reconviction? The fourth report from the evaluation of three schemes. Ministry of Justice Research Series 10/08.

Senior Civil Servants

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of officials of the three most senior grades in his Department have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement, (c) left the Department for alternative employment, (d) been dismissed, (e) taken long-term sick leave and (f) taken administrative leave since May 2010.

Jeremy Wright: The three most senior grades in the Ministry of Justice (HQ, HM Courts and Tribunals Service, Office of the Public Guardian and National Offender Management Service) are Permanent Secretary, Director General/Chief Executive and Director.
	The number and proportion of officials of the three most senior grades in the Ministry of Justice that have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement, (c) left the Department for alternative employment, (d)been dismissed, (e) taken long-term sick leave and (f) taken administrative leave since May 2010 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Number of staff Proportion (%) 
			 Resigned 7 6.8 
			 Taken voluntary early retirement 11 10.7 
			 Left for alternative employment(1) 14 13.6 
			 Dismissed 0 0 
			 Taken long-term sick 1 1.0 
			 Taken administrative leave 4 3.9 
			 (1) This figure is exclusive of those officials who have either resigned or have taken voluntary early retirement. Data is only held on transfers to other Government Departments. It does not include those who have taken alternative employment outside of the civil service. The figure also excludes loans and secondments as the Department remains the employer.

Staff

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by (a) HM Courts and Tribunals Service and (b) the Probation Service in London in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Grant: The information is as follows:
	(a) The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff that were employed by HM Courts and Tribunals Service both nationally and in London in each of the three years is set out in the table:
	
		
			 Full-time equivalent 
			  National London 
			 2010-11(1) 20,526.78 4,882.95 
			 2011-12(2) 18,499.33 4,506.39 
			 2012-13(3) 17,409.24 4,172.16 
			 (1 )As at 31 March 2011. (2) As at 31 March 2012. (3) As at 31 December 2012. 
		
	
	HM Courts and Tribunals Service was established in 2011-12. Therefore for the 2010-11 year, the number of full-time equivalent staff is the combined figure for the former Access to Justice Business Group, HM Courts Service and The Tribunals Service which were amalgamated to form HM Courts and Tribunals Service.
	(b) The number of full-time equivalent staff that were employed by the Probation Service in London in each of the three years is in the following table:
	
		
			  London Probation (Full-time equivalent) 
			 2010-11(1) 2,595.40 
			 2011-12(2) 2,482.41 
			 2012-13(3) 2,334.07 
			 (1) As at 31 March 2011. (2) As at 31 March 2012. (3) As at 30 September 2012. 
		
	
	The most recent published figures available for the London Probation Service is at 30 September 2012 for 2012-13.

Terrorism

Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what arrangements he has put in place for the monitoring of people held in prison for offences under the Terrorism Act 2000 or Terrorism Act 2006.

Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has in place established systems to manage and monitor all prisoners and where appropriate, heightened measures for the monitoring of high risk prisoners, including those held in prison under the Terrorism Acts. NOMS manages and monitors prisoners commensurate to the risk they pose, in terms of national security, public protection and/or re-offending.
	The arrangements for prisoner monitoring centre on;
	the appropriate categorisation of prisoners, which determines the level of security and supervision prisoners will be subject to;
	the appropriate use of legislation to enable monitoring of communications and provide surveillance coverage of prison sites;
	the collection, analysis and actioning of security information through the NOMS Security Information Reporting (SIR) system to maintain safety and security.
	NOMS provides operational support and liaison function to prisons managing high risk prisoners. This provides for national coverage of the prison estate, but has particular emphasis in the high security estate, where the majority of those held for Terrorism Acts offences are located.
	NOMS works closely with law enforcement agencies to ensure that information is shared effectively, to enable joint-working in key operational areas and to manage and monitor high risk individuals both while in custody and following release into the community.

Terrorism

Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners being held for offences under the (a) Terrorism Act 2000 or (b) Terrorism Act 2006 are (i) currently in custody and (ii) due to be released in 2013.

Jeremy Wright: As of 18 January 2013, those held in custody under these specific Terrorism Acts were as follows;
	Terrorism Act 2000
	24 in custody of whom nine are due to be released in 2013.
	Terrorism Act 2006
	29 in custody of whom three are due to be released in 2013.
	Both Terrorism Acts 2000 and 2006
	10 in custody, none due for release in 2013.
	One or more prisoners may have a Parole Board hearing in 2013 to determine whether or not they are suitable for release. This is at the discretion of the Parole Board, and figures have not been included as these are not fixed custodial release date (CRD) releases.

Trials: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress he has made on reducing delays in trials in magistrates courts and Crown courts in London; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Grant: HMCTS works closely with the London Criminal Justice partnership to drive up effective trials, and is working with the judiciary, Crown Prosecution Service, Probation Service and police to introduce the Early Guilty Plea Scheme across the Crown court and the “Stop Delaying Justice” initiative across magistrates courts. Implementation of Schedule 3 Criminal Justice Act 2003 will abolish the committal for trial process in the magistrates court, enhancing timeliness further across the criminal courts.

Victims' Champion

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when the Victims' Champion will take up her role.

Helen Grant: We expect the new victims' commissioner to take up her post shortly.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Enterprise Allowance: Business Mentors

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) England and (b) Stafford constituency have been supported towards self-employment by a business mentor through the new enterprise allowance to date.

Mark Hoban: In England, there were 15,480 New Enterprise Allowance mentor starts for the period April 2011 up to and including May 2012. In Stafford, there were 30 New Enterprise Allowance mentor starts over the same period.

Housing Benefit: Foster Carers

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect on foster carers of changes to housing benefit; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: The introduction of the social sector size criteria in April will affect around 5,000 foster carers. It is vital that this group are adequately protected.
	An additional £5 million of discretionary housing payments has been allocated to those affected, and we are revising guidance for local authorities to ensure foster carers have ready access to this funding.

Business Start-ups: Government Support

Phillip Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to support people who want to start their own business.

Mark Hoban: We believe that for many people self-employment is the best route out of unemployment. That is why we have introduced the New Enterprise Allowance and Enterprise Clubs which have proved effective in helping people back into work.

Child Maintenance System

Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to ensure that any arrears are carried forward into the new child maintenance system.

Steve Webb: The general presumption is that the new Child Maintenance Service will, over the longer term, be responsible for collecting arrears of child maintenance that have accumulated on existing Child Support Agency cases.
	Furthermore, I am pleased to inform the House that the Government will shortly publish a strategy for the collection of child maintenance arrears, outlining how we will manage that collection process.

Youth Contract

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to make businesses aware of the Youth Contract.

Mark Hoban: We are working with business organisations' trade bodies through Jobcentre Plus to promote the Youth Contract, including the wage incentive which is worth £2,275 to an employer who keeps a young person who has been out of work for six months in work for six months.

Atos Healthcare

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place a copy of the contracts signed by his Department with Atos in the Library.

Mark Hoban: The following Atos contracts will be placed in the Library at the earliest opportunity following the redaction of commercially sensitive items:
	Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment Service—Lot 1
	Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment Service—Lot 3
	Mandatory Work Activity
	Occupational Health
	enGage.
	A redacted copy of the Medical Services Contract between the Department and Atos Healthcare is already available in the Library.

Child Benefit and Child Maintenance

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps (a) his Department and (b) the Child Support Agency and Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission took prior to December 2012 to publicise the altered age range eligibility for child benefit and child maintenance requirements, (i) generally and (ii) to (A) non-resident parents and (B) parents with care.

Steve Webb: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, whose responsibilities have now formally transferred to the Department for Work and Pensions, normally only undertakes targeted communications where there is a change that means clients have to take action, or make a choice.
	However, as part of a range of communications activity that has taken place in the run up to the introduction of the 2012 scheme, the Department has informed Members of Parliament and interested groups of the changes to the age limit of a qualifying child to 20 years of age. This activity includes:
	Regional briefing sessions for MPs and their caseworkers in September 2012.
	A briefing session in the House of Commons on 17 December 2012.
	Four references to the change in the MP leaflet “An MP's guide to child maintenance” published in October 2012. This leaflet is available on the website:
	www.W4MP.org
	The House of Commons Library was updated in December 2012.
	Changes to website content and training materials for those organisations, including National Family Mediation, Women's Aid and Citizens Advice, which provide information to the public on child maintenance matters.
	Additionally, the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008, which included the powers to make this change, were widely consulted upon and debated in Parliament, and ail of the relevant information, including the 2006 White Paper “A new system of child maintenance” which led to the legislation taking its current form is publicly available.

Cold Weather Payments

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK were allocated cold weather payments in (i) November and (ii) December 2012.

Steve Webb: The cold weather payment scheme is administered at weather station area level. Information on the number of people qualifying for cold weather payments is only available for the area covered by each weather station and is not available at parliamentary constituency or local authority level. As Glasgow and its constituencies are covered by Bishopton weather station, the volumes of recipients for this weather station are given as the lowest relevant geography available.
	Table 1 gives the estimated volume of recipients of cold weather payments in November and December 2012 in the area covered by the Bishopton weather station, Scotland and Great Britain.
	
		
			 Table 1: Volume of recipients of cold weather payments in November and December 2012 
			 Area November 2012 December 2012 
			 Bishopton Weather Station 0 0 
			 Scotland 9,900 33,800 
			 Great Britain 19,600 60,200 
			 Notes: 1. The information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics. 2. The figures for Scotland only include payments made in respect of weather stations whose coverage areas lie entirely within Scotland. There are some weather station areas whose coverage crosses the England/Scotland border; as we do not know which country these recipients are in, they are excluded from the figures for Scotland. 3. Information regarding annual expenditure for Social Fund schemes in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland office and is not included in the above figures. 4. Cold weather payments are made to benefit units rather than to households or individuals. A benefit unit can be a single person or a couple and can include children. The recipient volumes given are based on the number of eligible benefit units on 31 October 2012. 5. A cold weather payment of £25 is made when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be 0°C or below over seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to an eligible recipient's postcode. 6. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.

Cold Weather Payments

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK will be allocated cold weather payments in (i) January, (ii) February and (iii) March 2013.

Steve Webb: Cold weather payments are paid when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0°C or below over seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to an eligible recipient's postcode. Due to the unpredictability of the weather, it is not possible to say in advance how many people will receive a cold weather payment in a given area over a set period. We can give information on the estimated eligible number of recipients; that is, the volume of recipients who would receive a payment if the weather station covering their postcode triggers.
	The cold weather payment scheme is administered at weather station area level. Information on the number of people qualifying for cold weather payments is only available for the area covered by each weather station and is not available at parliamentary constituency or local authority level. As Glasgow and its constituencies are covered by Bishopton weather station, the volume of recipients for this weather station are given as the lowest relevant geography available.
	Table 1 gives:
	(a) The estimated volume of eligible recipients of cold weather payments in the area covered by the Bishopton weather station, Scotland and Great Britain.
	(b) The estimated volume of eligible recipients who have received at least one cold weather payment between 1 January 2013 and 22 January 2013. These volumes may increase if more triggers are recorded in January.
	
		
			 Table 1: Volume of estimated eligible cold weather payment recipients in 2012-13 and the estimated volume who have received at least one payment between 1 January 2013 and 22 January 2013 
			 Area Total eligible recipients Recipients in January 2013(1) 
			 Bishopton Weather Station 153,300 0 
			 Scotland 388,400 133,600 
			 Great Britain 4,044,100 3,132,100 
			 (1)As at 22 January. Notes: 1. The information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official / National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics. 2. The figures for Scotland only include payments made in respect of weather stations whose coverage areas lie entirely within Scotland. There are some weather station areas whose coverage crosses the England/Scotland border; as we do not know which country these recipients are in, they are excluded from the figures for Scotland. 3. Information regarding annual expenditure for social fund schemes in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Office and is not included in the above figures. 4. Cold weather payments are made to benefit units rather than to households or individuals. A benefit unit can be a single person or a couple and can include children. The recipient volumes given are estimates based on the number of eligible benefit units on the 31 October 2012. 5. A cold weather payment of £25 is made when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0°C or below over seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to an eligible recipient's postcode. 6. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.

Cold Weather Payments

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on cold weather payments in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Steve Webb: Table 1 shows the amount spent on cold weather payments in each of the calendar years 2010, 2011 and 2012.
	The cold weather payment season runs from 1 November to 31 March and figures are usually presented by season. The calendar year expenditure given in Table 1 consists of payments made in the period January to March and November to December of the relevant year and therefore contain payments made during two cold weather payment seasons.
	In particular, the 2012 figure only includes payments made up to 31 December 2012 during the current season.
	
		
			 Table 1: Estimated cold weather payments expenditure by calendar year 2010-12 
			 Calendar year Expenditure (£) 
			 2010 619,937,500 
			 2011 8,578,900 
			 2012 131,090,000 
			 Notes: 1. The information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics and there are some issues with the data. For example, the annual expenditure for cold weather payments is estimated based on the number of eligible recipients on the 31 October at the start of the relevant winter season. 2. A cold weather payment of £25 is made when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be 0°C or below over seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to an eligible recipient's postcode. 3. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.

Council Tax: Wales

Peter Hain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households (a) in each local authority area in Wales and (b) in Wales will have to pay council tax from April as a result of benefit changes for the first time; and how many households (i) in each local authority area in Wales and (ii) in Wales will pay more council tax from April as a result of changes in benefits.

Steve Webb: This Information is not available. Council tax is a devolved matter and the responsibility of the Welsh Government.

Departmental Responsibilities

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department's top three policy implementation (a) successes and (b) failures have been since May 2010.

Mark Hoban: The policy implementation priorities of the Department for Work and Pensions can be found in the Department's Structural Reform Plan, progress against which is reported on the Government's business plan website:
	http://transparency.number10.gov.uk/business-plan
	A broader look at implementation progress can be found in the Government's Mid-Term Review document:
	http://midtermreview.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/
	published on 7 January 2013 and the Programme for Government Update:
	http://midtermreview.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/programme-for-government-update/
	published on 9 January 2013.

Disability Living Allowance: Tees Valley

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants of disability living allowance are resident in each parliamentary constituency in the Tees Valley region.

Esther McVey: Statistics on how many claimants of disability living allowance are resident in each parliamentary constituency in the Tees Valley region can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
	Guidance for users is available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf

Employment and Support Allowance

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of people who as a result of being transferred from severe disablement allowance and incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance will see a reduction in their net income;
	(2)  how many people who have transferred from severe disablement allowance and incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance have been paid an additional payment on top of their award.

Mark Hoban: Claimants who qualify for conversion to employment and support Allowance (ESA) and who receive more on existing incapacity benefits than the appropriate ESA rate, will have their existing rate of benefit protected at the point of conversion. They will be awarded additional allowances on a transitional basis (equivalent to the shortfall between the two rates) until the rate of ESA catches up. Information on the number of claimants who receive an additional allowance on a transitional basis could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
	If claimants who are eligible for ESA receive less on incapacity benefits than the appropriate ESA rate, their benefit will immediately be increased to the ESA rate on conversion.
	Estimates on the number of claimants whose income changes as a result of transferring from incapacity benefits to ESA are not available.

Employment Schemes: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many disabled people accessed employment support through Jobcentre Plus programmes in the most recent period for which data is available.

Mark Hoban: Disabled people may access employment support through various Jobcentre Plus programmes including Get Britain Working Measures, Mandatory Work Activity and Skills Conditionality, as well as the Work Programme and Work Choice.
	There were 9,210 Work Experience starts for disabled people during the period January 2011 to May 2012
	There were 3,460 New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) mentor starts for disabled people during the period April 2011 to May 2012
	There were 2,320 Sector-Based Work Academy pre-employment training starts for disabled people during the period August 2011 to May 2012
	There were 7,720 Mandatory Work Activity starts for disabled people during the period May 2011 to August 2012
	There were 12,610 training starts (part of Skills Conditionality) for disabled people during the period August 2011 to August 2012
	There were 23,770 National Careers Service starts (part of Skills Conditionality) for disabled people during the period August 2011 to August 2012
	There were 254,630 Work Programme attachments for disabled people during the period June 2011 to July 2012
	There were 12,750 Work Choice starts during the period April 2011 to March 2012
	Notes:
	1. For Work Choice, disability is self-assessed or assessed by a Disability Employment Advisor. For all other schemes, disability is self-assessed.
	2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	Sources:
	DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate (IGS), DWP LMS opportunities evaluation database June 2012, September 2012 and Work Choice official statistics November 2012

Housing Benefit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what impact assessment he has made of the under-occupancy penalty.

Steve Webb: Both an impact and an equality impact assessment have been carried out on the effects of the under-occupancy measure on working age claimants in the social rented sector.
	The impact assessment can be found at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf
	The Equality Impact Assessment is available at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/eia-social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011.pdf

Housing Benefit: Disability

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions the Minister for Disabled People has had with social housing representatives on the effects of the new housing benefit rules on disabled people.

Esther McVey: My ministerial colleagues and I are in regular contact with representatives from a range of organisations including social housing providers.
	Our housing reforms will constrain the run-away growth in housing benefit expenditure which reached £23 billion in 2011-12.
	From April 2013, social sector tenants of working age will be subject to an under-occupancy deduction. We do not believe that it is reasonable to ask the taxpayer to fund accommodation that is larger than the claimant's household need.
	The size criteria rules have been successfully applied to housing benefit claimants renting in the private rented sector for a number of years. From April they will be extended to claimants renting in the social sector.
	As a contingency measure we have added a further £30 million to the discretionary housing payment fund to provide additional support for foster carers and disabled people living in significantly adapted homes.

Housing Benefit: Reserve Forces

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many members of the reserve forces are claimants of housing benefit.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available.

ICT

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received from local authorities on the integration of council tax and universal credit IT systems.

Mark Hoban: We are working closely with local authorities and their representatives to understand the impact universal credit will have on them. The Local Authority Data Sharing Programme that the Department has established, has within its remit the sharing of data between universal credit and local authorities to support the administration of localised council tax reduction schemes.

Independent Living Fund

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people who will be affected by the closure of the Independent Living Fund.

Esther McVey: The independent living fund (ILF) currently has 18,773 users. All those who are receiving support from the fund on 31 March 2015 will be affected by its closure.
	ILF users have a diverse range of needs and the funding balance between ILF funding and local authorities funding varies significantly. The Government believes that individual local authorities are best placed to ensure these needs are met in a consistent way alongside the needs of the other disabled people. Funding for the ILF will therefore be devolved to local government in England and to the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales.
	I am pleased to reassure ILF users that the Government remains fully committed to maintaining current ILF users' care packages up to the end of March 2015. We will continue to work closely with local authorities and the devolved Administrations during the development and implementation of new local support arrangements to ensure that they are adequately funded. This will mean that the needs of current ILF users will continue to be met according to local authority assessments of eligibility in an equitable and consistent way and that anyone who is assessed as needing care will continue to receive it.

Independent Living Fund

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department conducted an impact assessment before announcing the closure of the independent living fund.

Esther McVey: The Government carefully considered all the responses to its consultation on the future of the independent living fund. An impact assessment, “Closure of the Independent Living Fund and integration of users into the mainstream care and support system” was published on 18 December 2012 alongside the Government's response to the consultation exercise.

Local Government Finance

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what additional support he plans to put in place to assist local authorities during the introduction of universal credit and crisis support schemes.

Mark Hoban: We are working closely with local authorities and their representatives to understand the impact universal credit will have on them. However we will comply with the New Burdens Doctrine which states that all new burdens on local authorities will be properly assessed and fully funded by the relevant Department.

Pension Protection Fund

Mark Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he has taken to ensure that charges incurred by small pension schemes when challenging risk scores are proportionate to the fund's Pension Protection Levy.

Steve Webb: The Pension Protection Fund charges schemes, whose members would be eligible for PPF compensation payments in the event of employer insolvency, a scheme-based levy and a risk-based levy annually.
	The Pensions Act 2004 requires at least 80% of the levy estimated to be raised in the relevant year to be risk-based. This is on the basis that those who are least likely to call on the PPF should pay less. Three elements form the basis of the risk-based levy: scheme underfunding, employer insolvency risk and the risk-based levy scaling factor. The risk-based levy is capped by the PPF to protect the most vulnerable schemes.
	For the employer insolvency risk, the PPF uses Dun and Bradstreet, a provider of business information, to calculate each sponsoring employer's “failure score”. The “failure score” indicates the probability of a business failing.
	Schemes can contact Dun and Bradstreet to check their employer's failure score, and can appeal failure scores in a three stage appeal process. There are no charges for making an appeal.

Personal Independence Payment

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the annual cost of the armed forces independence payment.

Esther McVey: Eligible service and ex-service personnel who are awarded the armed forces independence payment will receive the equivalent of the enhanced rate of both components of personal independence payment components. Individuals who choose to accept an armed forces independence payment award will not also be able to claim personal independence payment.
	As eligibility is limited to the most severely injured service and ex-service personnel we expect that the majority would have received equivalent levels of support under personal independence payment and therefore the scheme is broadly cost neutral.

Personal Independence Payment

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what support his Department makes available for blind and partially-sighted people to help complete application forms for the new personal independence payment; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: When a claimant telephones to make a new claim to PIP they will be asked if they have any communication needs such as needing large print or Braille. This will be noted on the computer system and letters will be issued in the format requested.
	Claimants will be advised that they can ask someone, such as a family member, friend or customer representative group for example Citizens Advice Bureau to help them complete the form.
	DWP is providing advice and training to support organisations to ensure that they understand how Personal Independence Payment works so that they can help with form completion.
	In addition DWP will provide assistance to vulnerable customers, such as this, who are unable to complete the form. In this instance it is expected that this support would be a face to face visit from DWP visiting to complete the form on their behalf, if they do not have assistance from family, friends or other support.

Poverty: Children

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the number of children living in (a) absolute poverty, (b) persistent poverty and (c) low-income and material deprivation in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11, (iii) 2011-12 and (iv) 2012-13.

Esther McVey: The Child Poverty Act 2010 sets four income-based UK-wide targets to be met by 2020. The targets are based on the proportion of children living in households with relative low income, combined low income and material deprivation, absolute low income and persistent poverty (all before housing costs have been taken into account).
	The number of children in poverty based on relative, absolute and combined low income and material deprivation measures for 2009-10 and 2010-11, the most recent period for which figures are available for, can be found in the Households Below Average Income series published at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai/hbai2011/index.php?page=contents
	The percentage of children in persistent poverty for 2005-08, the most recent period for which figures are available for, can be found in the Low Income Dynamics report published at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai/low_income/low income dynamics 1991-2008.pdf
	The 2011-12 edition of Households Below Average Income is due to be published by the Department of Work and Pensions in May/June 2013.
	The Government has not produced forecasts of the number of children living in income poverty for 2012-13. The number of children in poverty is dependent on a number of factors which cannot be reliably predicted, including the median income.
	Income matters but considering this in isolation fails to properly reflect the reality of child poverty in the UK today. We are very interested in developing better measurements of child poverty which include income but provide a more accurate picture of the reality of child poverty and are seeking a wide range of views as part of a consultation on how best to measure child poverty.

Procurement

Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of procurement contracts offered by his Department has been advertised on the Contracts Finder website since that website's inception.

Mark Hoban: It is explicit departmental commercial policy to comply with Cabinet Office guidance on the publication of tender opportunities as well as final contract documentation. Since 1 January 2011 the Department has made over 600 individual entries on the Contracts Finder website.
	At the moment we do not hold a central record indicating the exact proportion of tender opportunities advertised on Contracts Finder. To provide this information would incur disproportionate cost.

Social Fund: Denbighshire

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consideration his Department is giving to the request from Denbighshire county council for an additional £250,000 from its Community Care Grant and £750,000 for crisis loans to help the residents of Denbighshire affected by flooding in November 2012.

Steve Webb: A full response to the matter raised by Denbighshire county council is contained in my letter to the hon. gentleman dated 23 January 2013, a copy of which will be placed in the House Library.

Social Fund: Staffordshire

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will publish the Discretionary Social Fund (a) data, (b) awards and (c) spend for East Staffordshire local authority for (i) 2006-07, (ii) 2007-08 and (iii) 2008-09.

Steve Webb: The Discretionary Social Fund data for East Staffordshire local authority for 2006-07, 2007-08, and 2008-09 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on protocols for sharing data with local authorities for the purposes of implementing (a) universal credit and (b) other changes to benefits.

Steve Webb: The Department for Work and Pensions recognises the key role that data sharing will play in the successful delivery of changes to the benefits system and has established a Local Authority Data Sharing Programme. The programme's aims are to ensure that local authorities continue to receive the data they need to successfully administer housing benefit and, from April 2013, localised council tax reduction schemes. Data sharing requirements to support the implementation of universal credit and other changes to benefits also come within the scope of the programme.
	The Department for Communities and Local Government are represented on the Local Authority Data Sharing Programme Steering Committee (PSC) (as are the Scottish and Welsh Governments) which meets monthly. The two Departments have been working very closely together, both through PSC meetings and through other ad hoc meetings, to ensure that agreed data sharing requirements are delivered as fully as possible.

Social Security Benefits

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the potential effect of levels of (a) literacy and (b) access to computer terminals on implementation of (i) universal credit and (ii) other changes to benefits.

Mark Hoban: Online access to universal credit and other DWP services is being designed to be compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2, to level AA, with compliance to some AAA guidelines where these are deemed appropriate. This will ensure that online services are accessible to the vast majority of users.
	Universal credit are developing all our products using the DWP guidelines for level of literacy required of between nine and 13 years of age and to be compliant with disability legislation. We are also taking the opportunity to simplify the language we use.
	We are installing internet access devices in our jobcentres to help support those who do not have home access to the internet. In total this will provide 2,167 new devices for our customers.
	Users with lower levels of IT literacy will be catered for by following web usability guidelines and by following a User Centred Design process, where user feedback is integral to the development of the service. Testing will be performed with real end users with a variety of abilities, with their feedback being used to improve the product throughout the project, until an acceptable level of user experience is achieved.
	PIP claimants will be interacting through a mix of channels, including researching online, using the phone, completing a detailed form telling us how their disability affects them and attending a face to face consultation.
	The introduction of PIP offers an opportunity to work with disability organisations to redesign business processes and facilitate a move to digital. We are engaging with these support groups, staff and claimants to explore what elements of the process should be made available digitally.
	As part of the engagement with these groups we are looking at how they can provide more support for claimants using digital channels.

Social Security Benefits: EU Nationals

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of additional benefit claimants there may be by 2016 as a result of the end of transitional immigration controls on Romanian and Bulgarian nationals in January 2014.

Mark Hoban: It is impossible to accurately forecast likely inflows from Romania and Bulgaria once restrictions are lifted. This will depend on a variety of factors and we need to ensure that free movement rights are not abused. From 1 January 2014 Romania and Bulgarian nationals will have the same benefit entitlement as other migrants who are exercising a right to reside as an EEA worker; self-employed person; or job seeker. There is a legal duty to provide support but we also need to ensure the rules do not allow people to take advantage of benefit system.
	This is very different to 2004, when Britain was one of the few countries not to introduce transitional controls on the new EU member states. This time every EU country will be lifting restrictions on Romanian and Bulgarian nationals at the same time. In addition Romanian and Bulgarian nationals have already had free movement rights, access to some sectors of the UK labour Market, and the ability to enter the UK and work on a self-employed basis.

Social Security Benefits: Uprating

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the (a) proportion of the work force and (b) number of people in work to be affected by the proposed one per cent rise in benefits in each constituency.

Sajid Javid: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Treasury.
	It is not possible to provide an answer as there is not a sufficient sample size in the Department for Work and Pension's Policy Simulation Model to break the data down to a constituency level.
	There are published data on the number of recipient families receiving child tax credit and working tax credit in each Westminster and Scottish parliament constituency at 1 December 2012, including the number of out of work recipient families. These can be found in Tables 4 and 4a of the Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics Geographical Analyses December 2012:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/prov-geog-stats/cwtc-geog-dec12.xls

Unemployment: Bolton

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have been unemployed in Bolton South East constituency for (a) six, (ii) 12 and (iii) 24 months by (i) ward and (ii) ethnicity.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question.
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles unemployment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. However, estimates of unemployment for the requested ethnicity, durations and geographies are not available due to small sample sizes.
	As an alternative, in Table 1 we have provided the number of persons by ethnicity, claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA), in Bolton South East parliamentary constituency for (a) up to 6 months, (b) 6 to 12 months, (c) 12 to 24 months and (d) 24 months and over, for November 2012.
	In Table 2 we have provided the number of persons claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for all wards within Bolton South East parliamentary constituency for (a) up to 6 months, (b) 6 to 12 months, (c) 12 to 24 months and (d) 24 months and over, for November 2012.
	November 2012 is the latest period for which both ethnicity and ward data are available. The number of people claiming JSA by ethnicity at ward level is not available.
	The counts of people claiming JSA are those who are claiming benefits for unemployment related purposes. At a UK level the total number of JSA claimants is around two thirds of the total unemployment level.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			 Table 1. Number(1) of people by ethnicity claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for (a) up to 6 months, (b) 6 to 12 months, (c) 12 to 24 months, and (d) over 24 months, in Bolton South East parliamentary constituency, November 2012 
			 Ethnicity(2) Up to 6 months 6 to 12 months 12 to 24 months 24 months and over 
			 White 1,470 440 470 255 
			 Mixed 35 10 10 5 
			 Asian or Asian British 245 85 70 25 
			 Black or Black British 85 25 30 10 
			 Chinese or Other Ethnic Group 110 55 55 20 
			 Prefer not to say 65 25 15 5 
			 Unknown 35 15 15 5 
			 (1) Note data rounded to the nearest 5. (2) Ethnicity data is only available for computerised claims, which account for 99.7% of all claims. Source: Jobcentre Plus Administrative System 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2. Number(1, 2 )of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for (a) up to 6 months, (b) 6 to 12 months, (c) 12 to 24 months, and (d) over 24 months, for all wards within Bolton South East parliamentary constituency, November 2012 
			  Up to 6 months 6 to 12 months 12 to 24 months 24 months and over 
			 Burnden 345 135 105 60 
			 Daubhill 305 90 90 35 
			 Derby 355 130 145 75 
			 Farnworth 360 115 115 70 
			 Harper Green 295 85 90 35 
			 Kearsley 220 65 65 35 
			 Little Lever 145 50 35 20 
			 (1) Note data rounded to the nearest 5. (2) Data is only available for computerised claims, which account for 99.7% of all claims. Source: Jobcentre Plus Administrative System

Universal Credit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of monthly amendments required to be made to the IT system supporting universal credit; what estimate he has made of the average monthly cost of administering such changes; whether the amendments will be made automatically; and from which budget the funds for such operations will be drawn.

Mark Hoban: We have not concluded our analysis of the likely number of changes which will be required once the universal credit IT system goes live. As a result, we are unable to provide details of likely cost, or the manner in which changes will be made.
	Once we have finished our IT testing programme we will have an indication of the level of change, and the support required to maintain the IT system in the future.

Universal Credit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the ease of use of the universal credit IT system by benefit claimants.

Mark Hoban: Universal credit has developed its online user interface using a blue print which includes customer insight and work to determine claimant needs. The design has been user tested through a research company and through our own people and existing claimants in order to continually improve and create an easy to use online service.

Universal Credit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what additional funding his Department is making available to local authorities to assist the introduction of universal credit and other benefit changes.

Mark Hoban: We are working closely with local authorities and their representatives to understand the impact universal credit will have on them. However we will comply with the New Burdens Doctrine which states that all new burdens on local authorities will be properly assessed and fully funded by the relevant Department.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether a parent with a dependent child aged 13 or over is at risk of sanction under universal credit rules if there are no jobs available locally that are compatible with their caring responsibilities; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: By age 13, virtually every child has moved to senior school and the family will have made adjustments to this next stage of a child's life. However, the responsible carer of a child aged 13 or over may have the hours that they are expected to undertake work-related activities and be available to undertake paid work, tailored to the specific care needs they have in relation to the child. These claimants will need to show that the restricted hours still offer reasonable prospects of finding paid employment.
	In establishing whether a claimant has “reasonable prospects” of obtaining paid work, we will consider whether the claimant is restricting the hours they are available to such an extent that no jobs in the local labour market would be compatible with those restrictions.
	A claimant is expected to do all that is reasonably possible to fit in responsibilities with employment on offer. Where there are no current vacancies that fit with the claimant's caring responsibilities in their particular locality, the adviser will consider whether nevertheless the claimant is doing all that they can to give themselves reasonable prospects of finding work when it becomes available in their locality. If so, the restrictions will be permitted. Each case will be considered on its own merits taking all the individual circumstances into account.
	If, after considering the matters set out above, a claimant is required to look for work or to apply for a particular vacancy they will only receive a sanction if they fail to meet that requirement without good reason. When determining good reason a decision maker will take all the claimant's circumstances into account including the availability of child care and the nature and hours of work of a particular vacancy.

Welfare State: Northern Ireland

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of progress in his ongoing discussions with the Minister for Social Development in Northern Ireland on the flexibilities required in respect of welfare reform; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), is content that my noble Friend, Lord Freud, continues to support the Minister for Social Development to enact Welfare Reform implementation in Northern Ireland as Northern Ireland works through its Welfare Reform Bill.

Welfare Tax Credits

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what change there has been in the average amount of tax credits claimed by individuals over the last five years.

Sajid Javid: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Treasury.
	This information is not yet available for 2011-12. The average annual tax credit entitlement among recipient families in each of the five years from 2006-07 to 2010-11 is shown in the table:
	
		
			  Average annual tax credit entitlement (£) 
			 2010-11 4,525 
			 2009-10 4,380 
			 2008-09 4,104 
			 2007-08 3,611 
			 2006-07 3,412

Work Capability Assessment

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 388W, on work capability assessment, how many work capability assessment reassessments took place within (a) three months, (b) six months, (c) nine months, (d) 12 months, (e) 15 months, (f) 18 months and (g) more than 18 months of the claimant's previous work capability assessment in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012.

Mark Hoban: The following table shows the duration between the date of decision by the Department’s decision maker at the initial work capability assessment (WCA) and the date of decision by the Department’s decision maker at the second WCA. The table shows all claims with repeat decisions taken on them in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) between January and May 2012 (the latest data available).
	
		
			 Duration between decision maker decision at initial WCA and decision maker decision at first repeat WCA 
			  Year of decision on second WCA 
			  2010 2011 2012 (January-May) 
			 Up to 3 months 400 510 470 
			 Up to 6 months 8,480 13,620 5,350 
			 Up to 9 months 29,190 39,410 10,890 
			 Up to 12 months 15,900 20,670 13,960 
			 Up to 15 months 17,930 25,540 12,740 
			 Up to 18 months 5,830 17,190 9,140 
			 Over 18 months 1,230 19,740 16,920 
			 Total 78,950 136,670 69,460 
			 Source: The data presented above come from benefit claims data held by the Department for Work and Pensions. 
		
	
	All volumes are rounded to the nearest 10. Hence totals may not sum exactly.
	The number of repeat assessments in 2010 is lower than in subsequent years, as ESA had only been introduced in October 2008 and therefore the caseload was lower in earlier years. Therefore one would expect an increase in repeat assessments over time.

Work Capability Assessment

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 388W, on work capability assessment, how many claimants in each category were in the support group at the time of their reassessment.

Mark Hoban: The following table shows the duration between the date of decision by the Department’s decision maker at the initial Work Capability Assessment (WCA) and the date of decision by the Department's decision maker at the second WCA for claims where the claimant was placed in the Support Group at their initial WCA (including those placed in the Support Group after appeal). The table shows all claims with repeat decisions taken on them up to May 2012 (the latest data available).
	Some people placed in the Support Group are expected to see a change in their health and capability for work related activity or work soon after their first WCA and therefore are given short prognosis periods and thus re-tested soon. This ensures that people are not written off onto benefits because they have a health condition or impairment.
	
		
			 Repeat assessments for those placed in the Support Group at initial WCA (adjusted for appeals heard) and duration between initial and first repeat WCA 
			  Number 
			 Up to 3 months 460 
			 Up to 6 months 7,900 
			 Up to 9 months 17,900 
			 Up to 12 months 9,430 
			 Up to 15 months 11,220 
			 Up to 18 months 5,120 
			 Over 18 months 8,310 
			 Total 60,340 
			 Note: All volumes are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: The data presented above come from benefit claims data held by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Work Capability Assessment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have undertaken a work capability assessment to date; and how many such people secured a positive score on (a) physical descriptors only, (b) mental descriptors only and (c) both physical and mental descriptors.

Mark Hoban: The Department regularly publishes Official Statistics on employment and support allowance (ESA) and the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). The latest statistics were released in January 2013 and can be found here:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/index.php?page=esa_wca
	Statistics on incapacity benefits reassessment were released in November 2012 and can be found here:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/index.php?page=esa_ibr
	For new ESA claims starting between October 2008 and May 2012, there have been 1,437,600 initial WCAs completed.
	Claimants can be placed in the Support Group if they meet certain additional requirements, separate from any points scored at the WCA; or after a successful appeals tribunal. They may also be placed in the WRAG based on reasons other than the points recommendation made by Atos:
	if they are treated as having a limited capability for work due to medical reasons;
	if the DWP DM assesses the evidence differently to the Atos HCP;
	after a successful appeals tribunal.
	In addition some WCAs are conducted clerically and as such data on the points scored are not available.
	In total 451,400 WCA outcomes were awarded for reasons other than the points scored at the initial WCA.
	Of the remaining WCAs where claimants who were either found fit for work or placed in the Work Related Activity Group following the WCA:
	(a) 199,700 were awarded points against physical descriptors only;
	(b) 158,500 were awarded points against mental descriptors only;
	(c) 32,800 were awarded points against both the mental and physical descriptors;
	(d) 595,300 either scored zero points at the WCA or information on the points scored at the WCA is missing.
	For the same dates there have been 681,500 repeat WCAs on ESA claims. In total 403,400 WCA outcomes were awarded for reasons other than the points scored at the initial WCA.
	Of the remaining WCAs where claimants who were either found fit for work or placed in the Work Related Activity Group following the WCA:
	(a) 68,300 were awarded points against physical descriptors only;
	(b) 64,600 were awarded points against mental descriptors only;
	(c) 17,000 were awarded points against both the mental and physical descriptors;
	(d) 128,200 either scored zero points at the WCA or information on the points scored at the WCA is missing.
	Equivalent information is not available for IB reassessment WCA outcomes.
	All figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. Note that above figures may not sum exactly to totals shown due to rounding.

Work Capability Assessment: Sunderland

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Sunderland Central constituency have undergone a work capability assessment; how many such people appealed against the results of their assessments; and how many appeals were successful to date.

Mark Hoban: The information requested is not available.

Work Programme

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the Work programme have been placed on zero-hour contracts in (a) the UK, (b) the north-east and (c) Sunderland.

Mark Hoban: The Department does not hold information on the number of people on the Work programme who have been placed on zero-hour contracts.

Work Programme

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of those who have found work through the Work programme (a) had been unemployed for (i) over three years, (ii) between two and three years and (iii) between one and two years, (b) had been identified as having a drug or alcohol addiction or diagnosed with a mental health condition and (c) were functionally illiterate immediately before joining the programme.

Mark Hoban: Statistics on those who have found work through the Work programme are not available.
	Statistics on how many job outcomes have been claimed by Work programme providers can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
	Guidance for users can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  with reference to the report by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) entitled The Work Programme: What is the role of skills, published in December 2012, whether he plans to accept NIACE's recommendation that he should commission research on the impact of skills interventions on the ability of Work Programme participants to secure and sustain employment;
	(2)  whether he plans to respond to the recommendation made in December 2012 by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education that his Department should regularly publish details of the skills provision accessed by Work Programme participants.

Mark Hoban: We will consider the recommendations made in the NIACE report.

Xerox Corporation

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many contracts were awarded by his Department to Xerox in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Mark Hoban: The Department for Work and Pensions awarded no contracts to Xerox in 2010, 2011 or 2012.

HEALTH

Ambulance Services

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the performance of the Hull and East Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

Anna Soubry: The ambulance service covering the Hull and East Yorkshire area is covered by Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) National Health Service Trust. All ambulance services are performance measured against three standards for ambulance response times and each trust should perform above all three standards over the year. The latest published data covers November 2012 and shows YAS National Health Service Trust is performing appropriately against two of the three standards. The Department monitors ambulance trust performance closely, and will ensure the relevant strategic health authority takes appropriate action to improve performance where a trust is operating below standard.

Beef: Horse Meat

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the recently discovered products contaminated with horse meat were (a) frozen and (b) fresh.

Anna Soubry: The 27 beefburger products surveyed by Food Safety Authority Ireland to detect the presence of equine or porcine DNA were frozen.

Cancer

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate his Department has made of the funding that will be available for the National Cancer Peer Review Programme in each year up to 2016;
	(2)  in which NHS organisation staff responsible for the National Cancer Peer Review Programme will be located from April 2013.

Anna Soubry: Funding to support the National Cancer Peer Review Programme (NCPR) is provided through what is called the Strategic Health Authority (SHA) bundle. In 2012-13, the Department identified an amount of £2.385 million in the bundle to support the NCPR, based on an estimate of the funding required to deliver this programme of work. NHS London SHA manages the NCPR bundle line and it is responsible for deciding how much funding is allocated to the NCPR programmes.
	From 1 April 2013, peer review will be overseen by the new NHS Improvement Body and decisions about funding to support peer review will be the responsibility of the NHS Commissioning Board.

Depression: Young People

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the work and research of Dr Martin Seligman on depression in pubescent teenagers.

Norman Lamb: The Department has no such plans.
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence takes account of the available research evidence when developing guidance on the treatment of particular conditions.

Health Services: North West

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on survival rates of implementation of the Vascular Services review in Lancashire and Cumbria.

Anna Soubry: Decisions about local services are a matter for the local national health service. The Department has therefore made no assessment of the effect of implementation of the vascular services review in Lancashire and Cumbria.
	Vascular services are being reviewed locally across England in response to robust evidence, which shows that better patient outcomes are achieved when complex procedures, such as vascular surgery, are provided by units which treat higher volumes of patients.

Health: Debts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on the potential effect on the (a) physical and (b) mental health of individuals of higher levels of debt.

Norman Lamb: No such discussions have taken place.
	The links between worklessness and mental ill-health are well established. The Foresight Report ‘Mental Capital and Wellbeing’, published by the Government Office of Science highlighted the link between mental ill-health and social factors, particularly debt. A copy of the report is available at the following link:
	www.bis.gov.uk/foresight/our-work/projects/published-projects/mental-capital-and-wellbeing/reports-and-publications
	Through provisions in the Financial Services Act, which received royal assent on 19 December, the Government has clarified the role of the Money Advice Service so that it is required to work with other organisations which provide debt services, with a view to improving the availability, quality and consistency in the services available, in the way in which they are provided and in the advice given.

Homeopathy

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of (a) the appropriateness of NHS funding of homeopathy and (b) scientific evidence that homeopathy is a placebo.

Anna Soubry: The Department has not made any such assessments of homeopathy.
	It is the responsibility of local national health service organisations to make decisions on the commissioning and funding of any health care treatments for NHS patients, such as homeopathy, taking account of their safety, efficacy and clinical and cost-effectiveness and the availability of suitably qualified practitioners.

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the longest waiting time in days for patients in (a) England and (b) London was for each of the following hospital procedures in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12 (A) fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract and biopsy of lesion of upper gastrointestinal tract, (B) computed tomography of head, (C) insertion of prosthetic replacement for lens NEC, (D) unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of bladder, (E) computerised tomography NEC, (F) continuous intravenous infusion of therapeutic substance NEC, (G) unspecified diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract, (H) unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of colon, (I) diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic examination of colon and biopsy of lesion of colon and (J) unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of lower bowel using fibreoptic sigmoidoscope;
	(2)  if he will publish figures for London in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12 on (i) total finished consultant episodes, (ii) mean waiting time and (iii) median waiting time for each of the following hospital procedures (A) fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract and biopsy of lesion of upper gastrointestinal tract, (B) computed tomography of head, (C) insertion of prosthetic replacement for lens NEC, (D) unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of bladder, (E) computerised tomography NEC, (F) continuous intravenous infusion of therapeutic substance NEC, (G) unspecified diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract, (H) unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of colon, (I) diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic examination of colon and biopsy of lesion of colon and (J) unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of lower bowel using fibreoptic sigmoidoscope.

Anna Soubry: The Department does not collect these data for individual procedures. The information available for these procedures from the National Health Service Information Centre is shown in the following tables:
	
		
			 Number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs)(1), mean and median time waited(2) (days), total eligible(3) finished admission episodes (FAEs) and grouped waiting times for the main procedures(4) listed for both England and London Strategic Health Authority (SHA) of treatment(5), 2010-11 
			 England 
			 OPCS code Description Total FCEs Mean time waited Median time waited Total eligible FAEs 
			 G45.1 Fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract and biopsy of lesion of upper gastrointestinal tract 349,942 27.5 23 250,463 
			 U05.1 Computed tomography of head 342,355 43.8 14 1,309 
			 C75.1 Insertion of prosthetic replacement for lens NEC 315,766 64.6 58 289,309 
			 M45.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of bladder 259,214 31.6 22 139,971 
			 U21.2 Computerised tomography NEC 271,243 24.8 13 3,116 
			 X29.2 Continuous intravenous infusion of therapeutic substance NEC 173,392 27.5 10 22,715 
		
	
	
		
			 G45.9 Unspecified diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract 180,870 27.1 23 110,051 
			 H22.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of colon 147,252 36.2 27 101,352 
			 H22.1 Diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic . examination of colon and biopsy of lesion of colon 134,169 32.7 28 101,377 
			 H25.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of lower bowel using fibreoptic sigmoidoscope 118,348 28.4 26 87,551 
		
	
	
		
			 England 
			   Time waited groups (FAEs) 
			 OPCS code Description Under 1 month 1 to under 2 months 2 to under 3 months 3 to under 6 months 6 to under 9 months 9 months to under 1 year 1 year to under 18 months 18 months and over 
			 G45.1 Fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract and biopsy of lesion of upper gastrointestinal tract 156,864 81,584 8,699 2,503 248 105 108 352 
			 U05.1 Computed tomography of head 928 194 69 78 9 13 5 13 
			 C75.1 Insertion of prosthetic replacement for lens NEC 59,156 88,414 74,515 63,874 2,787 435 97 31 
			 M45.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of bladder 90,603 37,634 5,843 3,800 964 597 424 106 
			 U21.2 Computerised tomography NEC 2,380 484 127 104 9 5 3 4 
			 X29.2 Continuous intravenous infusion of therapeutic substance NEC 18,120 2,546 1,002 767 98 66 65 51 
			 G45.9 Unspecified diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract 68,553 35,846 4,248 1,172 96 42 24 70 
			 H22.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of colon 57,682 36,061 5,082 1,621 162 96 116 532 
			 H22.1 Diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic . examination of colon and biopsy of lesion of colon 55,560 38,254 5,392 1,669 182 72 83 165 
			 H25.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of lower bowel using fibreoptic sigmoidoscope 51,515 30,959 3,849 1,078 76 20 30 24 
		
	
	
		
			 London 
			 OPCS code Description Total FCEs Mean time waited Median time waited Total eligible FAEs 
			 G45.1 Fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract and biopsy of lesion of upper gastrointestinal tract 55,173 30.5 28 40,828 
			 U05.1 Computed tomography of head 54,901 24.3 11 437 
			 C75.1 Insertion of prosthetic replacement for lens NEC 45,916 58.1 51 41,077 
		
	
	
		
			 M45.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of bladder 33,839 34.2 26 16,379 
			 U21.2 Computerised tomography NEC 46,513 27.0 16 940 
			 X29.2 Continuous intravenous infusion of therapeutic substance NEC 26,462 27.6 14 3,443 
			 G45.9 Unspecified diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract 20,873 32.5 29 12,203 
			 H22.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of colon 23,921 35.0 30 17,324 
			 H22.1 Diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic examination of colon and biopsy of lesion of colon 23,940 34.8 30 18,707 
			 H25.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of lower bowel using fibreoptic sigmoidoscope 13,962 32.7 30 9,771 
		
	
	
		
			 London 
			   Time waited groups (FAEs) 
			 OPCS code Description Under 1 month 1 to under 2 months 2 to under 3 months 3 to under 6 months 6 to under 9 months 9 months to under 1 year 1 year to under 18 months 18 months and over 
			 G45.1 Fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract and biopsy of lesion of upper gastrointestinal tract 21,702 16,018 2,254 781 43 9 7 14 
			 U05.1 Computed tomography of head 324 65 26 20 * * — — 
			 C75.1 Insertion of prosthetic replacement for lens NEC 9,952 13,777 10,241 6,719 340 37 * * 
			 M45.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of bladder 9,437 5,178 915 645 123 32 39 10 
			 U21.2 Computerised tomography NEC 676 167 58 33 * — * * 
			 X29.2 Continuous intravenous infusion of therapeutic substance NEC 2,580 438 187 216 14 * * * 
			 G45.9 Unspecified diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract 6,199 4,702 913 365 15 * * * 
			 H22.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of colon 8,643 6,751 1,320 521 38 19 13 19 
			 H22.1 Diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic examination of colon and biopsy of lesion of colon 9,060 7,553 1,447 558 41 22 15 11 
			 H25.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of lower bowel using fibreoptic sigmoidoscope 4,835 3,942 726 251 10 * * * 
		
	
	
		
			 Number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs)(1), mean and median time waited(2) (days), total eligible(3) finished admission episodes (FAEs) and grouped waiting times for the main procedures(4) listed for both England and London Strategic Health Authority (SHA) of treatment(5), 2011-12 
			 England 
			 OPCS code Description Total FCEs Mean time waited Median time waited Total eligible FAEs 
			 G45.1 Fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract and biopsy of lesion of upper gastrointestinal tract 369,526 27.5 22 269,828 
		
	
	
		
			 U05.1 Computed tomography of head 353,275 43.1 7 1,754 
			 C75.1 Insertion of prosthetic replacement for lens NEC 312,310 66.0 59 286,776 
			 M45.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of bladder 259,488 31.5 22 143,030 
			 U21.2 Computerised tomography NEC 240,381 29.5 14 3,465 
			 X29.2 Continuous intravenous infusion of therapeutic substance NEC 194,453 37.4 13 24,915 
			 G45.9 Unspecified diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract 181,090 27.0 22 113,035 
			 H22.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of colon 162,243 35.6 25 113,666 
			 H22.1 Diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic examination of colon and biopsy of lesion of colon 152,823 31.6 26 119,574 
			 H25.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of lower bowel using fibreoptic sigmoidoscope 130,507 29.7 26 100,246 
		
	
	
		
			 England 
			   Time waited groups (FAEs) 
			 OPCS code Description Under 1 month 1 to under 2 months 2 to under 3 months 3 to under 6 months 6 to under 9 months 9 months to under 1 year 1 year to under 18 months 18 months and over 
			 G45.1 Fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract and biopsy of lesion of upper gastrointestinal tract 171,136 84,728 9,916 3,019 332 145 143 409 
			 U05.1 Computed tomography of head 1,307 211 92 95 16 13 4 16 
			 C75.1 Insertion of prosthetic replacement for lens NEC 61,545 83,766 69,127 67,629 3,790 679 213 27 
			 M45.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of bladder 92,019 39,095 5,858 3,867 1,004 569 518 100 
			 U21.2 Computerised tomography NEC 2,619 504 159 132 23 11 6 11 
			 X29.2 Continuous intravenous infusion of therapeutic substance NEC 19,259 3,080 1,113 889 108 143 102 221 
			 G45.9 Unspecified diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract 70,687 36,429 4,435 1,232 118 31 45 58 
			 H22.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of colon 66,683 37,629 6,225 2,105 248 96 129 551 
			 H22.1 Diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic examination of colon and biopsy of lesion of colon 68,535 41,571 6,665 2,238 226 79 87 173 
			 H25.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of lower bowel using fibreoptic sigmoidoscope 57,350 35,744 5,246 1,657 150 27 35 37 
		
	
	
		
			 London 
			 OPCS code Description Total FCEs Mean Time Waited Median Time Waited Total eligible FAEs 
			 G45.1 Fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract and biopsy of lesion of upper gastrointestinal tract 57,479 28.2 25 42,925 
			 U05.1 Computed tomography of head 56,001 37.2 11 513 
		
	
	
		
			 C75.1 Insertion of prosthetic replacement for lens NEC 47,532 65.5 61 41,554 
			 M45.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of bladder 32,267 35.3 25 16,798 
			 U21.2 Computerised tomography NEC 45,919 31.7 18 973 
			 X29.2 Continuous intravenous infusion of therapeutic substance NEC 31,057 22.7 11 4,011 
			 G45.9 Unspecified diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract 21,135 30.6 27 12,932 
			 H22.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of colon 25,307 33.4 27 18,472 
			 H22.l Diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic examination of colon and biopsy of lesion of colon 25,824 32.9 28 20,362 
			 H25.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of lower bowel using fibreoptic sigmoidoscope 15,580 30.9 28 11,315 
		
	
	
		
			 London 
			   Time waited groups (FAEs) 
			 OPCS code Description Under 1 Month 1 to under 2 months 2 to under 3 months 3 to under 6 months 6 to. under 9 months 9 months to under 1 year 1 year to under 18 months 18 months and over 
			 G45.1 Fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract and biopsy of lesion of upper gastrointestinal tract 25,412 14,818 2,011 606 40 16 7 15 
			 U05.1 Computed tomography of head 366 73 30 32 7 * * * 
			 C75.1 Insertion of prosthetic replacement for lens NEC 9,496 10,945 11,136 9,273 605 80 * * 
			 M45.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of bladder 9,791 5,298 799 617 133 81 60 19 
			 U21.2 Computerised tomography NEC 674 168 75 43 7 * * * 
			 X29.2 Continuous intravenous infusion of therapeutic substance NEC 3,135 505 194 158 13 * — * 
			 G45.9 Unspecified diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract 7,159 4,627 844 274 16 * * * 
			 H22.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of colon 10,157 6,498 1,241 470 35 17 20 34 
			 H22.l Diagnostic fibreoptic endoscopic examination of colon and biopsy of lesion of colon 10,717 7,612 1,432 514 36 13 22 16 
		
	
	
		
			 H25.9 Unspecified diagnostic endoscopic examination of lower bowel using fibreoptic sigmoidoscope 5,943 4,481 641 228 14 * * * 
			 (1) Finished Consultant Episode (FCE) A finished consultant episode (FCE) is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. Some procedures have many more FCEs than eligible Finished Admission Episode (FAEs), this is likely to be where procedures are carried out in an episode subsequent to the admission episode, but during the hospital spell. (2) Time waited (days) Time waited (days) statistics from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are not the same as published Referral to Treatment (RTT) time waited statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients between decision to admit and admission to hospital within a given period. Published RTT waiting statistics measure the time waited between referral and start of treatment. (3) Total admissions with eligible time waited information The total number of eligible admissions from which the mean and median time waited are derived. This includes waiting list and booked admissions, but not planned admissions. A waiting list admission is one in which a patient has been admitted electively into hospital from a waiting list, having been given no date of admission at the time a decision to admit was made. Booked admissions are those in which the patient was admitted electively having been given a date at the time it was decided to admit. Planned admissions are excluded as they are usually part of a planned sequence of clinical care determined mainly on clinical criteria, which, for example, could require a series of events, perhaps taking place every three months, six months or annually. (4) Main procedure The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (eg time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures. (5) Strategic Health Authority of Treatment The strategic health authority (SHA) where the patient was treated. This does not necessarily reflect where the patient lives as they may have travelled to another SHA for treatment. Note: Small numbers (for London SHA figures) To protect patient confidentiality, subnational figures between 1 and 5 have been replaced with “*” (an asterisk). Where it was still possible to identify figures from the total, additional figures have been replaced with “*”. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre, Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector.

Lancaster Hospital

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether there are any plans to close the accident and emergency department at Lancaster Hospital.

Anna Soubry: The provision of clinical services, including accident and emergency services, is a matter for the local national health service. My hon. Friend may wish to contact the local trust directly.

Mental Illness

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2012, Official Report, column 511W, what assessment he has made of trends in the incidence of one or more psychiatric conditions in (a) 16 to 24-year-olds and (b) the general population; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2012, Official Report, column 511W, how many adults (a) met the criteria for diagnosis with and (b) screened positively for one or more psychiatric conditions in each of the last 10 years;
	(3)  if he will assess the effect on levels of well-being of trends in (a) self-assessment and (b) medical assessment of health conditions;
	(4)  what assessment he has made of the relative costs of (a) psychological therapy, (b) drug-based interventions and (c) mindfulness practice in the treatment of mental illness;
	(5)  what assessment he has made on the effect of advertising on mental health and well-being;
	(6)  if he will asses the levels of obesity of patients with (a) schizophrenia and (b) bipolar disorder; and how such levels compare to the general population.

Norman Lamb: For adults (aged 16 and over) there have been three Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Surveys among adults living in private households in 1993, 2000 and 2007. The most recent, carried out by the National Centre for Social Research in collaboration with the university of Leicester, was published by The NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care in 2009. The 2009 report is based on answers to a survey rather than existing diagnoses. It is the only source of information on the national prevalence of both treated and untreated psychiatric disorders. A copy of this report, “Adult psychiatric morbidity in England, 2007—Results of a household survey”, has already been placed in the Library.
	No assessments have been made or are currently planned of trends in self-assessment and medical assessment of health conditions and effects on levels of well-being. No comparison of the relative costs of psychological therapy, drug-based interventions and mindfulness practice in the treatment of mental illness has been made, nor an assessment of the effect of advertising on mental health and well-being.
	The Department is aware of the increased risks of obesity for people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. That is why improving the physical health of people with mental health problems, including severe mental illness, is one of the six objectives of the Government's mental health strategy, “No health without mental health”. The strategy's Implementation Framework (published in July 2012) sets out specific actions which a wide range of local organisations can take to improve the physical health of people with mental health problems.
	The NHS Outcomes Framework for 2013-14 sets out how the national health service will be held to account for the outcomes it delivers. The framework includes an indicator (indicator 1.5) of the excess under-75 mortality rate in adults with serious mental illness.

Mental Illness: Drugs

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to reduce the number of people diagnosed with mental health problems who are prescribed drugs; what steps he is taking to reduce the average length of time those people are on drugs; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: People with mental health problems need a variety of help and support to enable them to cope with their illness, including medication, counselling, psychotherapy and self help. Decisions about the best and most appropriate treatment for an individual are a matter for the patient and their clinician based on the best available evidence.

NHS Commissioning Board

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the NHS Commissioning Board will publish details of how service specifications and commissioning policies will be reviewed in future years.

Anna Soubry: It is the responsibility of the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) to keep service specifications and other commissioning policies updated to reflect any agreed changes to clinical best practice, models of care and service scope. The NHS CB have advised that they are working up a timetable and process to develop, consult upon, and complete, any revisions in specialised services commissioning 'products' for 2014-15. They anticipate being able to share the updated process for completing 2014-15 commissioning products by May.

NHS Commissioning Board

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has received any assurances from the National Commissioning Board that all responses to the specialised service specifications consultation will be taken into account before final conclusions are published and implemented.

Anna Soubry: A public consultation is currently under way on the draft service specifications and commissioning policies for the specialised services that the NHS Commissioning Board will be responsible for commissioning from 1 April 2013. The service specifications and commissioning policies were developed with input from a range of stakeholders including patients, carers, Royal Colleges and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
	The consultation closed on 25 January. Responses to the consultation will be carefully analysed before the NHS Commissioning Board formally adopts the final service specifications for inclusion in contracts with providers from 2013-14. Publication of the 2013-14 service specifications is expected in March 2013.

NHS Commissioning Board

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration has been given to indicators in the National Outcomes Framework in the development of commissioning policies and service specifications by the NHS Commissioning Board.

Anna Soubry: The mandate sets out the Government's ambitions for the health service for the next two years, which includes an objective for the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) to demonstrate progress against the five parts and all of the outcome indicators in the NHS Outcomes Framework—including, where possible, by comparing our services and outcomes with the best in the world. The NHS CB is legally required to seek to achieve the objectives in this document.
	It is for the NHS CB to decide how it will carry this out; the Government will hold it to account for the outcomes it achieves. The NHS CB published a Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Outcomes Indicator Set in December 2012. The NHS CB assures us that all of the indicators were chosen on the basis that they help contribute to the overarching aims of the NHS Outcomes Framework. They will help CCGs and health and wellbeing boards to identify priorities for improvement and will provide transparent information to patients and the public on the quality of services commissioned and the associated health outcomes.
	The NHS CB has also issued planning guidance for CCGs—Everyone Counts: Planning for Patients 2013-14. This outlines the incentives and levers that will be used to improve services from April 2013, the first year of the new national health service, where improvement is driven by clinical commissioners. The guidance is published alongside financial allocations to clinical commissioning groups and is accompanied by other documents intended to help local clinicians deliver more responsive health services, focused on improving outcomes for patients, addressing local priorities and meeting the rights people have under the NHS Constitution.

Physiotherapy

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time is for muscular-skeletal physiotherapy in each region.

Daniel Poulter: Data on waiting times for musculo-skeletal physiotherapy is not currently collected centrally. Voluntary local collection on referral to treatment (RTT) has been encouraged since April 2010. From April 2013, there will be a requirement for acute providers to collect RTT data on allied health professions.

Radiotherapy

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to his Department's document Interventional radiology: guidance for service delivery—a report from the National Imaging Board, published in November 2010, what plans he has to ensure that interventional radiologists are adequately represented in clinical reference groups contributing to commissioning policies and service specifications devised by the NHS Commissioning Board.

Anna Soubry: The NHS Commissioning Board is responsible for producing commissioning policies and service specifications for the national health service. The NHS Commissioning Board is establishing an Interventional Radiology Clinical Reference Group for which it is currently recruiting a chair and clinical members.

Radiotherapy

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to his Department's document Interventional radiology: guidance for service delivery—a report from the National Imaging Board, published in November 2010, what plans he has to increase the number of interventional radiologists in the NHS.

Anna Soubry: The NHS Commissioning Board is recruiting a National Clinical Director for Diagnostics, who will liaise with Health Education England on the training of existing and additional numbers of interventional radiologists needed.

Rare Diseases

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made on ensuring that the NHS Commissioning Board will provide more consistent and better access to services for people with (a) rare and (b) very rare conditions from April 2013.

Anna Soubry: Our expectation is that direct commissioning of specialised services by the NHS Commissioning Board will result in better planning and coordination of services. A nationally agreed specification should lead to improved consistency in the commissioning of and access to specialised services across the country for people with rare and very rare conditions.

Senior Civil Servants

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of officials of the three most senior grades in his Department have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement, (c) left the Department for alternative employment, (d) been dismissed, (e) taken long-term sick leave and (f) taken administrative leave since May 2010.

Daniel Poulter: The three most senior grades in the Department are Permanent Secretary, senior civil servant grade 3 (SCS 3) and senior civil servant grade 2 (SCS 2).
	10 officials in the three most senior grades have resigned since May 2010. (This represents 15% of those, three grades, as at 31 May 2010).
	There is no mandatory retirement age in the senior civil service. Seven individuals in the group in question (11% of the three grades) left before their scheme retirement age and took voluntary early retirement terms.
	The Department does not hold details of the new destinations or occupations of any civil servants after they leave the Department.
	No member of the three grades of civil servants in question has been dismissed.
	One individual civil servant (2%) of the three grades was on long-term sick leave in the period of time in question, given the definition of ‘long term sick leave' as being 28 days or longer.
	No member of the group of civil servants in question has taken administrative leave during the period in question.

CABINET OFFICE

Business: Brigg

Andrew Percy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) small and (b) medium-sized businesses there were in Brigg and Goole constituency in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson dated January 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many (a) small and (b) medium-sized businesses there were in the Brigg and Goole constituency in each of the last five years.
	Annual statistics on the number of businesses (enterprises) are available from the ONS release—UK Business: Activity, Size and Location at
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/bus-register/uk-business/index.html
	Data on the number of enterprises broken down by parliamentary constituency within region and country by employment size band can be found in table B6.2 of the publication.
	The table below contains the count of small and medium sized businesses that were in Brigg and Goole from 2008 to 2012. Small businesses have been defined as those with an employment between 0 and 49 and medium-sized businesses as those with an employment between 50 and 249.
	
		
			 Brigg and Goole Small Medium 
			 2008 3,125 40 
			 2009 3,085 35 
			 2010 2,895 40 
			 2011 2,785 40 
			 2012 2,795 40 
			 Notes: 1. The above figures have been rounded to the nearest five, to avoid disclosure. 2. These numbers do not include very small businesses, typically those below the threshold for VAT and PAYE.

Conditions of Employment

Julie Elliott: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people are employed on zero-hour contracts in his Department.

Francis Maude: None.

Crime

Andrew Percy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many cases of (a) drug offences and (b) domestic burglary were reported in (i) Brigg and Goole constituency and (ii) Yorkshire and the Humber in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking for the numbers of reported cases of domestic burglary and drug offences in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency, and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber in each of the last five years. 139852
	Police recorded crime figures are provided for the last five financial years (April to March) for East Riding of Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire local authority areas combined and for Yorkshire and Humber. Crime data are not available at parliamentary constituency level, in this instance Brigg and Goole constituency spans two local authority areas. A combined figure for these two local authority areas is given in the table. It should be noted that this combined area will cover a much larger area than Brigg and Goole constituency itself.
	
		
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 East Riding and North Lincolnshire      
			 Burglary in a dwelling Drug offences 1,773 1,082 2,142 1,265 1,625 1,042 1,655 989 1,584 1,093 
			       
			 Yorkshire and Humber      
			 Burglary in a dwelling Drug offences 35,490 15,642 37,958 16,177 35,197 17,361 34,434 16,874 31,693 17,177 
		
	
	These data have been published by the ONS and have been extracted from the ‘Recorded crime data at local authority level from 2002/03', and ‘Recorded crime data at police force area level from 2002/03' files, available here:
	http://ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-287894

Directors

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  if he will publish the code of conduct for government non-executive directors;
	(2)  if he will publish the duties and responsibilities of government non-executive directors.

Francis Maude: Expectations for the duties and responsibilities of non-executive directors are set out in the Corporate Governance Code which is published on the Treasury website at the following web link:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/psr_governance_corporate.htm
	Non-executives must demonstrate that they are committed to, and have an understanding of, the value and importance of the Seven Principles of Public Life.

Employment: Brigg

Andrew Percy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of people in Brigg and Goole constituency were employed in the (a) private, (b) public and (c) third sector from 1997 to 2012.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what proportion of people in Brigg and Goole constituency were employed in the (i) private, (ii) public and (iii) third sector from 1997 to 2012. (139853)
	Employment statistics for local areas are calculated from the Annual Population Survey (APS). Estimates of people employed in the third sector are currently not available from APS. Individuals employed in voluntary organisations, charities and trusts are included in private sector estimates.
	Individuals in the APS are classified to the public or private sector according to their responses to the survey. In the APS the distinction between public and private sector is based on respondents' views about the organisation for which they work. The public sector estimates provided do not correspond to official Public Sector Employment estimates. Those are derived directly from employers and are based on a National Accounts' definition and are not available for areas smaller than regions.
	The tables show the number and percentage of people aged 16 to 64 years, who were employed in the public or private sector along with those who were unemployed or inactive, resident in Brigg and Goole parliamentary constituency and the UK. These estimates are compiled from APS interviews held during the period October 2011 to September 2012, the latest period available, and the 12 month periods ending in December from 2004 to 2011. It should also be noted that the estimates also include people who were employed but have not provided enough information to be accurately included in either the public or private sectors.
	Estimates for current parliamentary constituencies are not available for periods prior to 2004.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. A guide to the quality of the estimates is given in the table.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			 Table 1: Percentage of people aged 16 to 64 years employed in the public and private sectors(1), resident in Brigg and Goole constituency 
			 Percentage 
			  Employed  
			 12 months ending: Public Private Unknown(2) Unemployed or Inactive 
			 December 2004 15.0 59.0 0.6 25.5 
			 December 2005 12.4 60.5 0.9 26.2 
			 December 2006 17.6 55.8 n/a 26.4 
			 December 2007 17.4 60.2 n/a 22.3 
			 December 2008 15.9 57.8 0.8 25.5 
			 December 2009 17.5 58.4 n/a 23.8 
			 December 2010 14.0 59.2 1.0 25.8 
			 December 2011 17.2 60.3 n/a 22.2 
			 September 2012 17.0 58.7 n/a 23.9 
			 n/a = Not available. (1) Individuals in the APS are classified to the public or private sector according to their responses to the survey. (2) People who were employed but have not provided enough information to be accurately included in either the public or private sectors. Source: Annual Population Survey 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of people aged 16 to 64 years employed in the public and private sectors(1), resident in Brigg and Goole constituency 
			 Thousand 
			  Employed  
			 12 months ending: Public Private Unknown(2) Unemployed or Inactive 
			 December 2004 7 29 * 13 
			 December 2005 7 32 * 14 
			 December 2006 9 28 n/a 13 
			 December 2007 9 30 n/a 11 
			 December 2008 9 32 * 14 
			 December 2009 10 34 n/a 14 
			 December 2010 9 37 1 16 
			 December 2011 9 33 n/a 12 
			 September 2012(3) ***9 **30 ****n/a ***12 
			 ‘*’ = Less than 500. n/a = Not available. (1) Individuals in the APS are classified to the public or private sector according to their responses to the survey. (2) People who were employed but have not provided enough information to be accurately included in either the public or private sectors. (3) Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality following. Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220. Key: * 0 ≤ CV<5%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered precise ** 5 ≤ CV <10%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered reasonably precise *** 10 ≤ CV <20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered acceptable **** CV ≥ 20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes CV = Coefficient of Variation Source: Annual Population Survey

Pay: North East

Julie Elliott: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the average salary was in (a) Sunderland Central constituency and (b) the north-east for (i) women and (ii) men in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the average salary was in (a) Sunderland Central constituency and (b) North East for (i) women and (ii) men in each of the last three years for which figures are available. (139516)
	The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. Annual levels of earnings are estimated from ASHE, and are provided for employees on adult rates of pay, who have been in the same job for more than a year.
	The tables show the median gross annual earnings for all male and all female employees in (a) Sunderland Central constituency and (b) North East for each year from 2010 to 2012.
	
		
			 Median gross annual earnings (£) for all male and all female employee jobs(1) (a) Sunderland Central constituency and (b) North East from 2010-12 
			  Sunderland Central constituency North East 
			  Male Female Male Female 
			 2010 *22,381 **16,109 23,634 15,345 
			 2011(2) *21,519 **17,081 23,322 15,714 
			 2011(3) *21,690 **16,839 23,312 15,542 
		
	
	
		
			 2012 **21,437 *18,134 23,849 15,696 
			 (1) Employees on adult rates who have been in the same job for more than one year. (2) 2011 results based on Standard Occupational Classification 2000. (3) 2011 results based on Standard Occupational Classification 2010. Guide to quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of a figure, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an average of 200 with a CV of 5%, we would expect the population average to be within the range 180 to 220. Key: CV <= 5% * CV > 5% and <= 10% ** CV > 10% and <= 20% Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Office for National Statistics

Senior Civil Servants

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of officials of the three most senior grades in his Department have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement, (c) left the Department for alternative employment, (d) been dismissed, (e) taken long-term sick leave and (f) taken administrative leave since May 2010;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of officials of the three most senior grades in No. 10 Downing street have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement, (c) left No. 10 Downing street for alternative employment, (d) been dismissed, (e) taken long-term sick leave and (f) taken administrative leave since May 2010.

Francis Maude: The Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
	Figures for the whole Cabinet Office are given in the following table for each year of the past six years.
	
		
			 Category 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Resigned 6 2 1 4 5 6 
			 Voluntary Early Retirement 0 2 0 3 0 0 
			 Left for Alternative Employment 16 8 6 6 11 9 
			 Dismissed 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Long Term Sickness 0 0 1 1 1 0 
			 Administrative Leave 0 0 0 0 0 0